Excel the Limit
by JJ209TH
Summary: You always love your friends, no matter the situation, and no one will learn that more than Justin. Follow the story of Justin and his friends as they adventure through the Jiman Region, and watch as they grow and advance as trainers. OCs and Original Region, but no original pokemon. Possible romance. Rated T for caution.
1. Chapter 1: Beautiful Beginnings

**Hello everyone! Let me start out by saying this is my first fic. If anybody has any Constructive Criticism (Not Flames) then I would really appreciate the help. Anyway, enjoy! I'll hopefully have the next one up next week.**

"Come on Justin, get up!"

Justin lazily opened his eyes to find his mother in a rage with him.

"What did I do this time?" He wondered. The last thing he remembered was thinking of how he wanted a Charmander. Then he realized it. He was gonna be late to get his first Pokemon!

Justin shot up in bed, startling his mother. "OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD! I'm gonna be late!" He ran out the door the second he got his clothes on.

Praise Arceus, he made it on time. He ran into the lab frantically.

"Late as usual eh Justin?" Justin turned around to see Shawn, his childhood friend and rival as well as his friend Anthony with Diana, his childhood crush. "You know me. Never a dull moment!" He said in his optimistic voice he'd perfected over the years.

"Hello everyone! I'm glad to see you all made it here on time, barely or extremely early!" The new arrival glanced at Justin. " I'm sure you're all just as excited as I am about receiving your Pokemon, but please be patient. Come along with me."

Once Justin turned around, tired as he was, he immediately recognized the face of Professor Redwood. After all, who couldn't recognize the leading expert on Pokemon in the Jiman Region? Of course, he always made sure to get along with the professor, considering he was Diana's father. It was just bonus points if he could gain the professor's favor over Shawn, who also had a crush on Diana.

"I've got enough Pokemon for all of you, so please take a seat. I don't really care who sits down, just don't fight over the seats."

Justin and Anthony both grabbed a seat before idly chatting about what Pokemon they wanted. Anthony told Justin he wanted a Turtwig. When Justin inquired as to why, Anthony told him Torterra was his family's favorite Pokemon, so he wanted to make them proud.

Justin figured, however that he should be a gentleman. "Hey Diana!"

As he walked over, he made his offer. "You want to sit down? No offense, but your dad doesn't exactly have a track record for being fast with things not involving science."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Justin"

"No problem." He could somehow feel Shawn's glare at the back of his head.

"What's the big idea here?" Justin turned to see Shawn, pissed off at him as usual.

"What's the big idea with me being polite to a friend? Well have you ever considered the fact that I could just be being kind towards her because I'm a good person?"

"Justin, you're never a good person."

"People change, you know. Maybe I'm being more mature now that I'm becoming a trainer."

Shawn just growled at that. After another 15 minutes, Professor Redwood came out holding four Pokeballs and four strange, red devices. "I have your Pokemon right here. I took so long because I asked your parents what starters were your favorite."

They all ran over to professor Redwood to see what they got.

"For Justin, a Charmander. For Shawn, a Squirtle. For Anthony, a Turtwig. Last but not least, for Diana, a Piplup. I hope you all have a safe journey. Just remember that pure strength will not be enough to win your battles. You must be sure that you and your Pokemon are in sync, and that you trust each other completely. That is the true most important aspect of being a trainer."

Justin listened closely to Redwood's sage advice. He had heard that before being a researcher, he had been Pokemon League Champion, but was eventually knew that advice didn't come much better than advice from Professor Redwood.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot! Here." With that, he handed them each one of the red devices. "This is the Pokedex. It gives you complete access to information about every Pokemon out there. It includes a basic summary of the species, what moves it knows if you scan a specific specimen, its habitat, personality traits, what food it likes to eat, and more. It also serves as your trainer identification, so make sure not to lose it." He glanced over at Justin and Anthony at the last statement. They both flushed slightly. "Do all of you have PokeNavs?" At their nods, he continued. "Pass them to me for a moment. I have something to give each of you."

Diana was first. Redwood attached a slot that looked like a Pokeball could fit in. He silently wondered what it was.

He figured he'd find out when he went up second. The professor seemed to take longer, typing something else in as well as attaching that device. The same thing happened with Shawn and Anthony.

"The slots will allow you to trade Pokemon to and from home. Once you have 6 Pokemon, any more you catch will be sent here to Oakgarb Town. I'll make sure that they get plenty of time outside. You've all seen my ranch, right?" This time, everybody except Shawn and Anthony nodded. Justin looked back and smiled at his memories of the place. If you love the outside world, that place was the epitome of luxury. He needed to make sure he thanked professor Redwood for that. "Good. That's where they'll be staying. As for you boys, I gave you my number. You need to call me before you can trade., and you can always call if you need advice on anything."

Justin figured that explained it. Diana already had her father's number. But now it was time to meet his Pokemon. Justin nabbed his Pokeball and released the Charmander waiting inside. He was completely satisfied as long as he got a Pokemon, but this was his dream come true!.

Charmander growled menacingly at Shawn's Squirtle, and Justin figured he already knew who his rival was. Anthony and Diana just laughed at it, but Squirtle growled right back, and fire seemed to blaze in both Shawn's and Justin's eyes.

When Diana released Piplup, it was confused at first, but when it saw Diana, it understood what was going on, and it puffed out its chest in pride. Everyone laughed at that one.

Turtwig was a bit more pensive and timidly looked around before Anthony crouched down and talked to it.

"Hey there Turtwig. Do you want to be friends with me?" Turtwig happily nodded when he realized Anthony was friendly and almost immediately put its mind at ease.

Justin smiled. "I guess you've got a knack for befriending Pokemon, Anthony."

Anthony flushed a bit. "Well, I guess you could call it that." After that statement, Shawn spoke up.

"It feels kinda weird, getting an old man's number. Anyway, can we just go?" Justin was appalled at Shawn's mouth. He elbowed Shawn, enough to bruise for a couple of days.

Diana was even more horrified by his language, and she went off on Shawn. "What was that? Not only did he just make it easier to trade Pokemon, but he offered to give you advice on Pokemon training. Getting advice from a previous champion and the top researcher in the region should be an honor and a privilege! How could you be so rude and ungrateful?"

Justin figured it was fun to watch him squirm under her wrath, but he needed to stop this. To be completely honest, he wanted to get out of here too.

"Alright, everybody stop! I know what Shawn said was inappropriate and rude, but we can settle our differences later. Right now we should be happy and having fun. We're getting our first Pokemon today! We shouldn't ruin what should be the best day of our lives with senseless arguing and violence!" At his words, both Diana and Shawn calmed down. _That's a relief,_ he thought. _I figured I'd have to yell longer_.

Redwood was surprised. He never figured the normally silent and private Justin to be capable of the kind of behavior he demonstrated. He was commanding, with a look that forced others to listen. It reminded him of himself in his prime. He could only imagine how far Justin would go.

All of them had made arrangements to travel together. When Justin got outside, Diana dragged him by his ear to the town gates, him spouting how he can walk, not saying it was her father's fault because she would probably kill him if he did. He decided he wanted a change of pace.

After freeing himself from Diana's grip (Which was surprisingly hard) He walked over to Shawn. "Hey Shawn, what do you say we have a battle? You know, just for a bit of fun."

"Ok Justin, I'll enjoy this one quite a bit."

"Let's battle at the town gates shall we? I want our friends to see my first victory."

When they arrived at the gates, Anthony and Diana were excited to find out which was better.

With that the battle started. Justin thought back to when he first got Charmander.

 _"Charmander, the lizard Pokemon. Male. The fire on it's tail shows its health and life force. If the flame goes out, Charmander dies. This Charmander knows the moves Scratch, Growl, Ancient Power, Belly Drum, Counter, Crunch, Dragon Dance, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush, Flare Blitz, Metal Claw, Thunder Punch, and Outrage. It has a Jolly nature. It prefers sweet foods over sour ones. Its ability is Blaze, which powers up fire type moves in a tight spot."_ Justin had been astonished at the variety of moves Charmander knew. He figured professor Redwood had been breeding the Charmander line for years by now. He only hoped Squirtle had as much variety so it would be a challenge.

At the same time, Shawn was thinking back to when he first got Squirtle.

 _"Squirtle, the tiny turtle Pokemon. Male. It hides in its shell when battling, spouting water at every opportunity. This Squirtle knows the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, Aqua Jet, Aqua Ring, Aura Sphere, Brine, Dragon Pulse, Mirror Coat, Muddy Water, Water Spout, and Flash Cannon. It has a Relaxed nature, and prefer Sour Foods over Sweet ones. Its ability is Rain Dish, letting it heal its injuries in the rain." Shawn was impressed with Squirtle too. He hoped Charmander didn't have as much variety so he could finish things quickly._

"Charmander, use Growl!" Charmander quickly complied, letting loose a horrible shriek that made Squirtle clutch its ears in pain. Somehow, it managed to recover before Charmander was upon him.

"Bubble!"

"Get away, Charmander!" Charmander proceeded to dodge the attack. "Thunder Punch!"

Shawn went bug-eyed as Charmander slammed an electric fist right into Squirtle's stomach. Squirtle went flying across the field, ending up behind Shawn.

"Ember!" Justin didn't want to reveal all of Charmander's secrets yet. There was one move in particular he wanted to keep stashed away. Charmander quickly blasted Squirtle with flames, and Squirtle came out of it in clear pain. Charmander had burned Squirtle. It struggled to its feet, but couldn't take any more and fell unconscious.

Shawn was in disbelief. "How did you beat me? I had the advantage!"

"Simple," I said. "I'm better than you. Type advantages don't mean everything. It's easy to lose to a weaker type if you're not skilled enough."

Shawn was still quite pissed off, but quickly shut up. They finally decided to leave.

 _I'm gonna miss this place,_ Justin thought. He rather liked Oakgarb Town. It was small, only about 100 people lived there, as compared to the big cities. Still, it let him get to know everyone a lot easier. He knew everyone in town by name personally. Meeting new people would be fun though, that's for sure.

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If there's anything I can do better, then just review and let me know. Please, no flames or you will be blocked! Flaming doesn't help anybody on the site. It only makes the arguing and fighting across what should be a fun site worse.**


	2. Chapter 2: Moving Along

**As a special gift to celebrate the new fic, two chapters in one day! I feel accomplished with myself.**

"Hurry up!"

Justin walked over to them. "Sorry, just getting a last look at what I'm leaving behind. We'll be back once the conference is over."

The conference was every trainer's dream. Here's where the best of the best trainers gather to prove their strength. If you win the conference, you'd have to face the Elite 4, the ultimate trainers, as well as the Pokemon League Champion.

The Champion, Red (who in the heck names their kid Red?) was a legend. His Charizard was said to have defeated a legend, which Justin found difficult to believe, but hey, anything was possible if your Pokemon was strong and you shared a powerful enough bond.

Justin thought about their next destination. The next town, Champagne Town, had a gym that was said to be a good place for beginners to get started. If he remembered correctly, the gym leader, Darius, used Ghost type Pokemon. He figured crunch would help him, although it wouldn't hurt to make a new friend either.

The ghost types worked in mysterious ways. Ghost type Pokemon drew their strength from another world, where only they could survive. That world was full of ghostly energy that they could draw on at any time they wish. The ghost energy would scramble the minds of Psychic Type Pokemon, who tend to keep their thoughts focused in this world. Ghost type Pokemon themselves were pretty much made of the stuff, and formed from ghost energy in a corporeal form that could be attacked. They could reform from pretty much anything, but the process took time and energy, and as the ghost became weaker it would take more and more time to reform.

He was jerked out of his thoughts as he saw a Pokemon emerge onto the road. He immediately recognized it as a Venipede.

"This one's mine!"

Justin released Charmander, who emerged onto the field with a growl. "Ember!" Charmander quickly complied. Venipede was consumed in a blast of weak flames. It became unconscious, not able to resist the Pokeball he threw at his target quickly. It was an easy catch.

Diana reflected on Justin's performance. He effortlessly took it down and caught it. Diana had known all along that both Justin and Shawn had a crush on her. She knew from Justin's first battle with Shawn that he was the better trainer. She just didn't know how far Justin would go. Justin released Venipede and gave it a revive. The yellow powder in the tablet quickly awoke Venipede from its stupor. As it calmed down with its surroundings, Justin spoke.

"Hey Venipede, I caught you. You know what that means?"

Venipede slowly nodded. "So do you want to be friends? Together we can get really strong and go far!" Charmander cheered on Venipede.

Venipede's eyes widened at the prospect of becoming powerful, fervently nodding at Justin's offer.

Justin pulled out his Pokedex and scanned Venipede.

" _Venipede. The Centipede Pokemon. Male. It uses its feelers to detect its prey's location and state. This Venipede knows the moves Defense Curl, Rollout, Poison Sting, Twineedle, Rock Climb, and Take Down. It has an Adamant nature. It prefers Spicy foods over Dry ones. It has the ability Speed Boost, which gradually increases speed in battle."_

As they went on their way, they met plenty of other young trainers. They each got in 3 battles that day, with Diana being the only one losing one of them. Still, her Piplup was facing a Pikachu, and Justin figured not everyone could win at a disadvantage. As they set up camp, Diana had something she needed to ask everyone.

"What are your goals as trainers?"

Everyone was knocked out of their silence as Anthony answered. "To win the Conference." Diana wanted to be a top coordinator, the best in history. Shawn was different though. "My goal is to become the champion of the Pokemon League."

"There's a slight problem with that, Shawn," Justin continued once he had everyone's attention, "I'm gonna be champion. But my goals reach far beyond that. I want to be the best trainer there ever was or will be. I can feel it. Me and Charmander will be the best ever. That reminds me!" He released Charmander and Venipede. "Do either of you want names?"

They both nodded. "Ok then, I've got names for both of you."

The newly dubbed Blitz and Nightcrawler happily grunted as they laid down.

"One of you guys be sure to put out the fire before you go to sleep. I don't feel like becoming a burn victim or a criminal for starting a forest fire."

Justin had many nightmares in his life. But this one was different. He was in a room with Blitz and Nightcrawler. His friends were separated from their Pokemon, and he was trying to free them from a cage, but the bars wouldn't budge. Even his Pokemon's most powerful attacks were completely ineffective. The cage dropped into the darkness and...

Justin shot up in his sleeping bag. _Whoa, I've got to make sure I don't sleep on my back anymore._ He felt extremely hot. He also felt his arm in fading pain. He saw scratch marks on his arm and glared at the culprit. Blitz pointed to the center of the campsite with slight fear for their safety. That's when he realized. The fire was still going! He had to go back and forth between the campsite and the pond to get enough water to put out the fire three times. He knew Blitz would be fine with or even prefer the fire, so it warmed his heart to know Blitz was willingly giving up his own comfort for them. He waited for an hour, reading through Pokedex entries starting from Bulbasaur. He mentally reminded himself he got up to Electabuzz. After everyone got up, Shawn decided to make an attempt to keep his pride. He had seen Justin, and known he was supposed to put out the fire. "See guys, I told you I would put out the fire."

Diana was... less than happy with him, for lack of a better word. "Nice try, but me and Anthony saw you fall asleep. Thanks for putting out the fire, Justin." She hugged his arm as she said this.

"No problem, but you've got Blitz to thank for that. He woke me up in the nick of time. If it wasn't for him, I don't think Smokey the bear would have been proud." He did his best to hide his blush, but it didn't work out too well.

As they kept going, a rock rolled down the hill on their right. As the rock continued to roll down, Anthony began to see arms sprouting from it. Justin recognized it as a Geodude, and Shawn decided that here was his chance to get something that might beat Justin's Pokemon. As he sent out Squirtle, it was his turn to show how much better he was than Justin.

"Bubble!"

Geodude was enclosed in a foamy mess of bubbles. Shawn threw his Pokeball at the helpless Geodude, and he caught it after a few seconds of waiting.

Diana figured he wasn't too bad either, but the schooling Justin had given Venipede was much more impressive. The sign behind them had told them Champagne Town was just two miles away from their current position, so she figured it would take them 45 minutes at most. After Champagne Town, she was both disgusted and infatuated with what would come next. The Grapevine Woods were filled with Bug Type Pokemon, which everyone else knew that she hated. At the same time, she was hoping to catch one of the two cute Pokemon there, Budew or Pikachu. Of course, the gym was also on her mind, and why shouldn't it be? It was still important for your Pokemon to be powerful, even if you prefer contests.

Shawn released Geodude. "I caught you, Geodude. You know what that means right?" Geodude grunted and nodded. "Are you gonna listen to me, or do I have to keep you in your Pokeball?" Geodude seemed to bow his head to Shawn, and it actually looked rather funny. After Shawn was done laughing, he told Geodude "I'm gonna scan you with this. Is that ok?" Geodude nodded.

" _Geodude, the rock Pokemon. Male. While resting, it looks like a rock. If it is woken up, it swings its fists around angrily. This Geodude knows the moves Tackle, Defense Curl, Mud Sport, Hammer Arm, Mega Punch, and Rock Climb. It has a Relaxed nature. It prefers Sour Foods over Sweet ones. Its ability is Sand Veil, which makes it harder to identify in a sandstorm."_

"Congrats on the catch, Shawn!" Shawn was surprised. He wasn't expecting praise from Justin, but hey it's something.

As they continued, Justin saw a place to set up camp. The tasks were handed out, and everyone got the same jobs. Anthony was to take turns with Justin, who went to get the firewood, Shawn had to set up sleeping bags in an orderly fashion, and Diana refilled their water bottles. Justin decided to be the one to put out the fire tonight, considering he slept the longest of them all the night before. It was only fair, and he didn't trust Shawn enough.

Luckily, nothing went wrong. Eventually, Champagne Town was in sight. They were all thankful for that. They were sweaty, tired, and dirty. Diana seemed to rejoice more than them. Justin supposed it was because girls tended to care more about their hygiene than boys. All of a sudden, it started to rain. This upset the group as they just wanted to get to the Pokemon center. Justin returned Blitz, figuring he wouldn't want to be in the rain. They luckily made it to the Pokemon center without being drenched. After each getting a room, they immediately went to take a shower and get cleaned up. Justin decided to go to sleep early, but was taken out of that fantasy by Diana knocking on his door telling him to get going so they could make it to the gym on time. He knew he wasn't getting out of this one.

As he walked down the street with them, he called dibs on the first battle. No one objected. They were honestly very scared for their first gym battle, and Anthony wondered how Justin could be eager for it. He guessed that Justin was just that different.

In a few minutes, they arrived at the gym. Justin entered with gusto, and the others quickly followed suit. They saw the gym leader almost immediately. Then again, it was hard not to, considering that he was seated on a pedestal across the hall filled with blue flames in Chandeliers. As they walked, Justin realized that the flames came from a Chandelure, and as they walked down the path to the gym leader, the flames grew brighter and darted around the ceiling. He knew that was Will-O-Wisp. He'd probably have to find a way around that. As they got closer, Anthony's mind filled with worry. He had seen the Chandelure, and he knew Turtwig was at a huge disadvantage. He made his decision. "I think I'd rather wait until tomorrow for my battle. I don't have a second Pokemon, and I don't want to be at a disadvantage."

Diana had a lightbulb turn on in her head. "I agree. I don't have a second Pokemon either, and I might need one." She put on the puppy dog face.

Justin just shrugged and nodded. As they went down the hall, Justin made out a clearer image of the gym leader.

He was well built, and wore sunglasses that he could swear were darker than black. The purple cape dangling from his back took away a bit of the tough guy appearance, though.

"Hello!"

 **Well, there you have it, folks! How will the battles go down? Only time will tell! Until Monday.**

 **-Justin**


	3. Chapter 3: Pumping Iron

**Here's Number 3! Hope you enjoy!**

The gym leader's voice started Justin out of his stupor, and hearing it assured him that Darius would be no walk in the park. Still, he was ready for this. _It's now or never,_ _he thought._

Justin walked right up to Darius proudly. "I could be wrong, but I'm gonna take the bait and say that you're Darius." The gym leader's eyes widened in shock. He wasn't expecting that. Justin decided to continue. "I'm here to challenge you for the gym badge."

"Very well then, I accept your challenge." As he walked across the battlefield, he explained the rules. "This will be a one-on-one battle. The winner will be declared when either trainer's Pokemon are unable to battle or the trainer forfeits. No items will be allowed midway through the battle."

Justin smirked and turned to face his friends. "Hey guys, guess you don't need to catch another Pokemon, huh? Have fun after me!" At this, both Diana and Anthony worried.

"Alright kid, don't expect this to be easy, got it? I don't exactly know how to hold back." Justin nodded in excitement as his heart started beating faster "Ok then, go Gastly! Let's teach this kid what it means to be a trainer." As he said this, a ball formed from purple gases and cackled as a mouth and two eyes formed.

Justin knew that Gastly tended to have little to no control over their corporeal forms, so a couple of well placed hits should do it. His smile widened as Blitz appeared on the field, ready as always to battle whatever threat to their reputation or lives they encountered.

As the battle started, Justin's mind instantly went to ensuring his own power. "Dragon Dance!" Justin and Darius both watched as Blitz became shrouded in Draconic energies, and the fight was on after that. "Shadow Ball!" Gastly began conjuring up a purple ball of energy.

Blitz just snorted as he correctly predicted Justin's next order. "Crunch!" Darius' eyes turned to a look of fear as Blitz bit right through the ball and chomped down on Gastly. Gastly cried out in pain as the dark energies came into contact with its body. "Ancient Power, second!" There were two forms of Ancient Power. The first form, the most common, involved the Pokemon forming a ball of energy and launching it at the foe.

But the second form was special. This form involved a ball of energy making contact with the ground and ripping away chunks of earth to throw at the opponent.

And that's exactly what Blitz did. The very Earth beneath him obeyed his will as it launched towards Blitz's opponent. Gastly was still staggered from the Crunch, and had no chance of getting away from the boulder. As Gastly's corporeal form broke into pieces and reformed itself, Justin figured it was time to finish things. Two words escaped his lips that spelled Gastly's end, and got him one step closer to becoming the next Pokemon League Champion.

"Flare Blitz."

Blitz because shrouded in flames and crashed into Gastly the second it reformed. It then reformed in front of Darius, and didn't get back up.

"Congrats, kid. I thought you were just another rookie who thought he had what it took, but you sure proved me wrong."

Justin was startled. He didn't expect the large gym leader to be upon him so quickly. Darius handed a small object to Justin, and when Justin looked he saw a small purple wind powering a purple flame, preserved in the badge.

"That Phantom Badge brings you a bit of the way to being in the conference. Also, I want you to have this." With that, he handed the disc to Justin. It was a brilliant shade of Purple, and seemed to reflect the light in different places. "That's a TM, for shadow ball. Maybe you could use it. By the way, be sure to come back for a rematch once you've gotten stronger. I'd love to see how you fare against my real team."

"Will do, sir." He turned to his buddy. "Hey Blitz, how about I give you extra Lum Berries tonight, instead of that drab Pokemon food?" Blitz happily cheered and that notion. "Ok then, I'll be sure to remember it." As he and Blitz walked over to the stands, Shawn got on his side of the arena, and released Squirtle after a white candle appeared. "Litwick's a bit new, but he should give you a challenge."

Shawn decided to start off strong, preferring he end this battle quickly so he could go to sleep. "Water Spout!" Squirtle proceeded to launch an absolutely massive blast of water at the ghostly candle.

"Heat Wave!" Darius shouted. As the Litwick cried out, massive heat erupted in waves of air, Evaporating most of the water and making the rest little more than a drizzle.

The battle dragged on, with Litwick and Squirtle only managing to score a couple of hits a piece. Blitz cheered for Squirtle from the sidelines, and Justin himself was cheering with "Get em Shawn" and "Nice one" every once in a while. Even if he was a rival, he was also still a friend, who deserved every bit of his support.

"Confuse Ray!" Litwick fired a small ball of energy and it hit Squirtle head on. Squirtle then cried out, Launching attack after attack at fake illusory phantoms around it.

Anthony grimaced at Squirtle,, feeling genuinely sorry for it. He hated Confuse Ray as well. It worked by the Pokemon firing a small ghostly energy ball at the target, which would manipulate its mind and cause it to have terrifying illusions. He hoped it would be over soon. Confuse Ray was hell on earth for a Pokemon.

Squirtle saw Litwick approach, and its mind registered it as a bigger threat, so he did what his instinct said; attack. He launched the most powerful Water Spout he'd ever mustered, and Litwick was effortlessly dispatched. As he was returned to his Pokeball, he felt nothing but gratitude towards Shawn.

Darius was surprised. He hadn't expected that. Still, he could accept defeat. He walked over to Shawn. "Here you go, kid. If you can't tell what these are, you really ought to pay more attention to your friends." Shawn proudly held up his badge, showing off to Diana as best he could. "And as for you two, come back tomorrow. I need to give my Pokemon a good rest." Diana and Anthony gratefully nodded. They felt like they needed the preparation.

Justin noticed them nodding happily and decided to give them a confidence boost. "Guys, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll both do fine! You need to get pumped up and stop worrying about stuff that hasn't happened yet. You haven't lost the battle yet, and I know you won't lose it tomorrow."

"Thanks Justin, I needed that." Diana said.

Anthony decided to take his advice right now. "Yeah! You're right, Justin! I need to get pumped up!" With this, his face turned to the most determined look ever, although all it seemed to be able to do was make everyone else laugh.

That night, Justin decided to go out on his own. He left the Pokemon Center as quietly as he could. It was time to catch a new friend in the Grapevine Woods.

Justin trekked through the woods for what felt like hours, and he couldn't find what he was looking for. He made sure Nightcrawler was with him at all times, being sure they trained against every wild Pokemon willing to attack them, which was a lot considering they were in a forest in the middle of the night.

Justin thought he saw a small yellow object in the distance, and decided that he should see if it was what he was looking for. As it turns out, he looked around the corner and found what he had been searching for, a Pikachu. He got Blitz's ball from his pocket, and released him.

"Hey Nightcrawler, take a rest, OK? I'm gonna return you now." Nightcrawler gave him a grateful nod, as he was very tired as well.

He turned to Blitz. "Ember, OK?" He whispered. Blitz nodded and shot a small stream of fire into the yellow mouse. Its ears twitched, and within a second, the Pikachu was behind them. Justin groaned inwardly. He knew a Quick Attack when he saw it. The Pikachu then started gathering up electricity in its cheek pouches, ready to be launched at Blitz.

Now that his sneak attack failed, he decided to get serious. "Ancient Power, Second." Blitz shot Multiple energy spheres into the ground, which all lifted huge boulders. One was used to cover them from Pikachu's electric attacks, and the other ones launched towards Pikachu.

Pikachu was still doing its attack, so it had no chance of dodging the boulders. They quickly knocked Pikachu unconscious. Justin threw his Pokeball at the helpless Pikachu. Needless to say, it was an easy catch. He opened his bag and took out one of his revives. After releasing the unconscious Pikachu, he poured the yellow powder into its mouth, and Pikachu awoke with a start. Justin crouched down and tried to appear small so Pikachu wouldn't be afraid. "Hey there, little buddy. You're really something else, aren't you? That electric attack was very powerful. You probably could have finished off Blitz with that. But I caught you. I'd be willing to assume you know what that means, right?" Pikachu had soaked up the praise, but then its ears dropped and it slowly nodded. "Don't be so upset. As a matter of fact, I bet if you came along with me on my journey, you could be strong enough to beat Blitz one day. Of course, we'd train together and beat pretty much anything in our path too. What do you say, little buddy?" As soon as the words "beat" and "Blitz" came out of his mouth, Pikachu's eyes widened, and it nodded enthusiastically. Then Justin pulled out his Pokedex and scanned Pikachu.

 _Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon. Male. Pikachu can use the electricity in its cheek pouches to heal other weak or injured Pikachu. This Pikachu knows the moves Tail Whip, Thunder Shock, Growl, Play Nice, Quick Attack, Disarming Voice, Thunder Punch, and Volt Tackle. It has a Hardy nature. It enjoys many kinds of food. Its ability is Static, which can sometimes Paralyze opponents on contact._

"Wow, Pikachu! You really are a tough little guy, aren't you?" Pikachu proudly backflipped at the praise. "So, how about a name?" Pikachu thoughtfully nodded. "Okay then, lets see..."

He wanted to stay away from obvious, cliche or uncreative names, so he immediately eliminated Sparky, Volt, Jolt, Bolt, and Thunder. Then, a lightbulb turned on in his head. "How about Zeus?" Excited and happy squeaks came next, and Zeus let electricity spark a little bit in his cheek pouches. Justin then yawned loudly. Pikachu looked at him with concern. Apparently, he hadn't seen anyone yawn before, only to begin yawning himself. Justin chuckled at that, then said, "You want to walk to the Pokemon Center together, or do you want me to recall you?" Zeus started walking, so Justin figured that answered his question. "How about you, Blitz?" Blitz slowly tapped the Pokeball. "Ok then, I understand." Blitz just smiled at Justin before he was returned with a flash of red light.

"Hey Zeus, did you have a family of Pikachu with you before I caught you?" Zeus shook his head sadly. Justin felt pity, but then figured his prideful friend wouldn't want his pity, so he spoke instead. "Well, don't worry about that anymore. You've got a family now, me, Blitz, and Nightcrawler." When Zeus just gave him a funny look, he realized Zeus hadn't met Nightcrawler yet. He released Nightcrawler, who looked around before setting his eyes on Zeus.

"Nightcrawler, this is Zeus. He's a new member of the family, ok? Be nice." After hearing Zeus was friendly, Nightcrawler went up to Zeus and happily greeted him. Him and Zeus had a conversation the entire way back. While they did that, Justin thought about their next destination.

Next on their journey was Glazeburn City. After getting through the Grapevine Woods, they were headed there. That city was in the tropics of the region. It didn't have a gym, but it was a great place to kick back and relax for a day or two. Justin knew that they'd be spending at least one day at the beach. He really hoped his friends would be able to have fun there. Of course, he didn't just mean Shawn, Anthony, and Diana. He'd make sure his team had the day off, and had plenty of rest and relaxation. He could only imagine what kind of trouble Blitz could start with the sun powering up his fire type moves. But that was a day to relax. He started thinking about what the day would be like, and then he wondered what Zeus and Nightcrawler were talking about as they got back to the Pokemon Center. He wasn't expecting Nurse Joy to be awake. "Well someone went out on their own tonight, eh?"

Justin just pointed at Zeus and said, "Just ask Zeus if you need... proof." He really was tired. "Zeus, Nightcrawler, does anything hurt?" They both shook their heads. "All right then, I need to recall you for a second." They nodded and disappeared in a flash of red light. He walked upstairs, then released his friends again. It was safe to release Blitz because, the flame on his tail was more of a meter that an actual fire, and couldn't actually burn anything. "Guys, pick anywhere you want to sleep, I'm going to bed." With that, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep in seconds.

 **That's Number 3! Tell me what you think, and if you've got any recommendations, please review, but no flames!**


	4. Chapter 4: An Old Friend

Justin woke up after someone tapping him on the shoulder for about 10 minutes. Blitz became worried after that, and Zeus decided to send a little shock to wake up Justin. He almost fell off the bed, and after seeing Blitz's worried look, he understood what was going on here. Then he heard banging on his door. "Who is it?"

"Justin, hurry up! We want to get to Glazeburn City in the next week, you know!" Justin opened the door to see his friends. He tiredly looked at them, then said, "Slow down, guys! What's the rush? We've got a whole year to explore Jiman! How about today we just train once you've done your gym battles? Then we'll hit the road again tomorrow!"

Diana and Anthony had the biggest "oops" face on. "That's right!" Diana said. "We completely forgot our gym battles!"

Justin decided now was the time to get cocky. "Aren't you glad you had me around?"

Diana almost facepalmed. "Let's just go to the gym, OK?"

Justin turned to his team. "Who's coming for the walk?" All of them jumped for joy. _Well all right then. Oh yeah, I should introduce Zeus._ "Hey guys," he said as he turned to Shawn, "I'd like you to meet Zeus." Zeus hopped on his shoulder. "What!? Where'd you get a Pikachu? Did you go into the forest on your own?" Justin just whistled, he had intended on making them jealous.

He hadn't known that Diana would be the most jealous of all. "Why would you do that? I thought we were friends, and that we'd all experience the journey together at the same time! We are friends, right?" She asked with a worried look.

"Of course we are. I'm sorry. I didn't think going into the forest in the middle of the night counted as experiencing something on my own. Besides, I'm gonna be honest here and say that I really wanted to get a Pikachu before you guys did. Not to make you jealous, although that was a small part of it, but mainly because I wanted to get a Pikachu, and I don't regret doing it because I met Zeus." Zeus squeaked in delight at Justin's words.

Shawn stepped in. "I understand, Justin. But next time, don't go off on your own, OK?" Justin smiled and nodded, glad the conflict had ceased.

"Ok kiddies, you ready for this?" Diana stepped up to the plate and nodded, a look of determination crossing over her features. Zeus, Nightcrawler, and Blitz were already out and cheering. Justin knew that they were both gonna win.

Now Diana remembered that he had Gastly and Litwick. She could only hope that he'd send out Gastly, because she knew Anthony's Turtwig wouldn't do too well against Litwick.

Darius smiled as Litwick appeared on the field. She didn't expect this to be easy, he was still a gym leader, but at least Anthony's battle wouldn't be as difficult. Piplup appeared in a flash of light, the prideful creature ready for battle.

While Shawn focused solely on Diana, drooling a bit at times, Justin actually focused on the battle.

"Ok, Piplup, let's start off strong!" Piplup nodded in agreement. "Hydro Pump!" Piplup let loose a massive blast of water at Litwick. While not as large as water spout, it moved much faster.

"Didn't you learn from your friend's mistake? Heat Wave!"

Litwick drew up its power, but before it could release its attack, Hydro Pump was upon it.

Litwick stood no chance. Without Heat Wave to decrease the effects of it, Hydro Pump instantly took it out.

Diana was shocked. She hadn't expected it to be that easy. She heard her friends and their Pokemon congratulating her, and it made her victory feel even better. She walked over to Darius, who was just as shocked as she was. He handed her the badge and the TM. She happily walked over to her friends, who were still shouting congratulations.

"Thanks, guys! I get it, I kicked butt, but it's not that big a deal. Who knows? Maybe I'm the best of us."

"I'd think Zeus has something to say about that." Zeus, who had taken a position on Justin's shoulder, nodded as electricity sparked in his cheek pouches.

Diana gulped. "Or not!"

"My turn, guys!" Anthony was ready to show what he could really do.

As he predicted, Darius released Gastly. He was ready. Turtwig appeared on the field, ready for battle.

"Seed Bomb," he said. He had a move ready, but he wasn't quite ready to use it. He wanted to really test what Gastly was capable of, considering Justin hadn't given him much of a chance to. Turtwig sprouted two seeds from the leaf on its back, and threw them at Gastly, who flew around the first one but got nailed by the second.

"Sludge Bomb," Darius said. He felt like scaring the kid a bit.

"Withdraw!" Turtwig quickly retreated into its shell, making sure to keep safe from the sludge.

As Gastly approached, Turtwig emerged from its shell. Anthony grinned. "Bite!" Turtwig's jaw became encased in dark energies, and it bit directly through Gastly, who cried out in pain. Gastly barely had time to reform itself before Anthony made his next move. "One more time!" Turtwig bit Gastly just as it reformed, and it reformed in front of Darius. It didn't get back up.

"Nice one kid. Here you go." He handed Anthony the badge and the TM. "Thank you sir." Darius just nodded and said, "All right, now git outta here before I sick Chandelure on you." Anthony's eyes widened in fear, and he nodded as they all walked out, but before that, Justin turned around and gave Darius a thumbs up. Darius returned the gesture.

"I already told you guys, it was like 3 o'clock in the morning! How do you expect me to remember anything? Besides, even if I did, it wouldn't help us get to Glazeburn City."

"Then WHY don't you release Zeus? He should know his way around!"

Justin released Zeus, tired of arguing with Shawn. "Hey buddy, can you get us to Glazeburn City?" Zeus nodded, and started walking, so they followed.

Justin and Zeus got into a few battles, Zeus coming out on top in all of them. But now it was time to set up camp.

"Hey buddy, we're stopping for the night. You might miraculously be energized, but we need to sleep." Zeus nodded and motioned for them to follow him. Justin started walking, calling out with "He's gonna show us a good camp site. They quickly followed Zeus to what had to be the most beautiful lake he'd ever seen. "Whoa, this is amazing. Thanks, buddy!" Zeus puffed out his chest in pride, although it really just succeeded in looking silly. Justin chuckled at it and collected their water bottles, walking to the lake and filling them up. He looked up from his crouching state to see something halfway through the lake.

It was small, but brilliant. Its head was shaped like and arrow with a magnificent shade of Blue, and was barely smaller than its torso. But what really amazed Justin were its tails. There were two of them, and they seemed to end in a crown like shape, with a beautiful red gem in the middle.

When it noticed Justin had seen it, it waved and dived into the lake. There was something about it that seemed so familiar. He finished filling their bottles, then scrambled for his Pokedex before finding it.

Azelf, the Willpower Pokemon. He knew he'd seen it before. It was said to have given humanity the gift of strong wills. He fondly thought back to when he had first seen it.

It was on a trip with his mom and the professor, to the Sinnoh region. They were at Valor Cavern, a cavern that the professor had said to have some sort of mystical Pokemon living in it. The professor told him that the same mystical Pokemon didn't want wild Pokemon attacking humans, so they'd be completely safe.

Curious as he was, Justin went through the cave on his own, making sure to never stray too far or forget his way back. He discovered a small door, too small for most adults, but if he crawled he could fit through it. After crawling through the hole, he ended up in a large room, filled with shallow puddles of water in a confusing pattern. It felt strange, it was as if there was a pressure weighing down on his mind. It didn't deter him though, only made him want to keep going.

Somehow, the room was completely lit. He didn't question it. If there was a Mystical Pokemon living here, it was the reason. He was the top student at his school for a reason.

He looked around before settling his gaze upon something in the middle of the room. It was about a quarter of his height, and it seemed surprised that he found it. Then, it smiled and waved as he walked towards it. He smiled and waved back, and said, "Hey little fella!"

The mysterious Pokemon squealed happily, and Justin laughed as it flew around him multiple times in a rather funny pattern.

"So have you got a name?" The Pokemon's eyes glowed, and Justin heard the voice of what sounded like a young boy in his mind.

 _ **My name is Azelf, giver of willpower to your kind, and second of the lake spirits of Sinnoh. And yours?**_

"My name is Justin! It's nice to meet you! You sound awfully important."

 _ **Well, that would make sense, considering that without my assistance your race would be weak and afraid of their own shadows. It has been a pleasure to speak with you; not many humans managed to find me here. However, I think you should return to your family and mentor.**_

"Good point, I don't want them worrying about me too much. Should I tell them about you?" He felt it necessary to ask, as a legendary Pokemon like Azelf deserved his respect.

 _ **No. I fear that your mentor might "spill my secret", as you humans call it. However, you should retain your memories of this. Not many meet me, or a legend at all. You've been very lucky with this.**_

"Okay, Azelf. I won't forget this. You can count on it." Azelf nodded, and he crawled back through the hole.

"Ah, there you are, Justin! We were worried! Tell me, where were you?"

"I was just looking around is all. I found this little hole that led to a couple of Geodude. I didn't want to disturb them."

"Ah, I see. Very well then. Let's continue on our way back home. We've got to get back to Jiman in time for your dad, don't we?" Justin nodded.

What he wanted to know was why Azelf was here. After all, it seemed content in its cave. Maybe someone else with a big mouth discovered him? From its voice, Justin decided to treat Azelf as male.

 _ **That's correct. My cave was disturbed by a human who thought my location would make a good scoop on the news. By the way, you can respond to me with your thoughts.**_

 _Are you gonna stay at this lake now?_

 _ **No, I actually plan on seeing how your journey turns out. You have intrigued me from the start, Justin. From the moment I met you, I felt an air of power that proved to me you'll become a great Pokemon trainer.**_

 _Thanks, Azelf. It means a lot to hear that from a legend._

 _ **Very well. If ever you need advice or just feel like speaking to me, just think my name and I will respond.**_

 _If you say so. I'm glad to have you as a friend and hopefully someday, as an ally._

 _ **I'll be looking forward to it. But now, your companions call for you.**_

 _Ok._

"Justin, what are you doing?"

Justin closed his Pokedex and looked up to see Anthony. "We'd like our water sometime this century!"

"Sorry, Anthony. Just thinking about an old friend," he said as he looked at the lake and smiled.


	5. Chapter 5: The Anti-Waterworks

**I suck so bad:( but on the bright side, I managed to get this up now, right? Here it is, Chapter 5.**

Chapter 5: The Anti-Waterworks

"An old friend?"

"Yeah, one that I knew a long time ago. I think I might see him again on my journey."

"Who is it?"

"You wouldn't know him. It was a few years ago. Here you go." He handed him the water bottle.

Anthony didn't buy it, but figured it was something that he couldn't or wouldn't talk about.

When they got back to the fire, Diana and Shawn were creating conversation. Squirtle tripped, and they both laughed.

Justin smiled. It was good to see everyone getting along for once. Normally, the day is filled with arguments and a change of pace never hurt anyone.

But that, of course, would change, because life hates Justin sometimes.

The next day, as they walked down the forest path, they suddenly heard people yelling behind them.

"Stop right there, kiddies!"

They turned around to see what had to be the stupidest looking people they'd ever seen. They wore outfits that made them look ridiculous. The outfit consisted of a white overcoat that stretched just below their waist, with the male wearing a black t-shirt and the female wearing a smaller black shirt that reached just above their stomachs. They also wore grey pants and shoes. On the side of their overcoats, there was a logo that appeared to be a large Typhoon.

Justin decided he'd speak first. "Can we help you? In case you're gonna ask, we don't know where the nearest Anime Convention is, so if you'd kindly move, we'll be on our way."

They ignored him and continued. "We of team Hurricane would like it if you'd cooperate and kindly hand over your Pokemon. Your Donation to the cause will be a small part of a huge plan. Come now, give them up before we have to force you to."

Justin and Shawn were instantly filled with anger. They had just asked them to give up their team members, their friends. They were NOT gonna let that happen.

"As if!" They yelled in unison as Justin released Blitz and Shawn released Squirtle. The Team Hurricane members pulled out their Pokeballs as well, and a Zubat and Grimer appeared in front of them.

"Toxic!" They yelled. Zubat and Grimer launched balls of toxic sludge at Blitz and Squirtle. They both dodged the attacks.

"Flare Blitz!" Blitz crashed into Zubat full force, and it fell unconscious.

"Water Spout!" Squirtle released a massive blast of water at Grimer, who was immediately overwhelmed.

"Nice one!" Justin yelled as they high fived each other. The two grunts returned their Pokemon and ran.

"Ancient power!" Blitz launched a sphere of energy in front of the grunts, preventing them from escaping as a wall of earth constructed itself from the ground.

The grunts were clearly afraid as Justin walked up to them. Justin's voice boomed, even from the short distance. "You'd better tell me why you're here, because I won't restrain Blitz for long."

Both grunts were silent.

Next Shawn came up to them. "In case you didn't notice, he wasn't asking. Now you tell us why you're here, or someone's gonna get hurt, big time!"

The girl spoke. "We were here to capture Pokemon for our boss. He needs them for a... _special_ mission."

"Where's your base?" Diana asked. "I think we'd like to meet this boss of yours."

The male grunt spoke up. "We're based in Epsil Town. Happy? Are you gonna let us go now?" Justin looked at Blitz and nodded. Blitz moved his arm down, and the stone replaced itself in the ground.

"What are you doing? These guys need to learn not to threaten someone's Pokemon the hard way!" Justin just shook his head at that.

"Doing that won't undo or help anything. Now," He turned to the grunts, "Leave! And if you've got any brain cells, you won't come back." The grunts scurried off into the darkness.

They decided to keep moving through the forest. None of them wanted to run into any more Team Hurricane members. Justin and Diana just remained silent the entire time, but Shawn and Anthony were having a lively conversation.

Anthony turned to Justin. "Come on, you two, lighten up! What happened happened, so just get over it." They both perked up at that.

"Thanks," Justin said, "I needed that."

"No problem. Hey, look! We're almost at Glazeburn City!"

Justin looked down the path to see a town gate ahead. He grinned and started running. "Catch me if you can!" All three of them started chasing after Justin, who smiled.

It really is a good life.

Justin woke up nice and early, deciding to make sure he was ready to get outside. He took a shower and brushed his teeth, then got on his outfit and released Blitz. "Hey buddy. How you doing?" Blitz yawned and tried to go to sleep. Justin laughed and poked his friend, who opened one eye lazily as if to say "What is it now?"

"Ready for a fun day at the beach?" This got a reaction from Blitz, who looked up at Justin with an expression of awe and happiness.

"Yeah, we're going to the beach. I'm gonna relax today. We all will. You in or what?" Blitz, of course, was in.

"Cool. Well, they'll be here in about... now." He heard knocking on his door. _I think I might be spending too much time with these people._

 _ **Possibly.**_

Justin just chuckled to himself. He opened the door to find Squirtle in front of his face. He was then squirted with what he figured was an extremely underpowered Water Gun, and he just looked at Shawn with an expression that said "Really?" He looked behind Shawn to see Diana barely holding back her laughter, and Anthony cracking up.

"Getting wet already, Justin?"

"I guess I am. You couldn't have waited, could you?"

"Nope," Shawn said.

Justin recalled Blitz, then just walked past Shawn with an annoyed face on. After leaving the Pokemon Center, Justin ran to the beach and immediately released his friends. He really hoped today was gonna be fine. Everything seems to go wrong for him around water.

He shuddered as he recalled the memory.

It was on a boating trip for school. The Professor had taken the entire class on his private observation boat. The only one that apparently couldn't tell it was for observation was a friend of theirs named Jess. He and his friends were way ahead of the curve in classes and thus were the only ones who got Pokemon. He wondered how she was doing. He and Shawn hadn't been particularly close with anyone in the class, since they tended to be shy in groups of many people. Anthony and Diana were really their only friends from school, and they formed what was basically a nerd club. Still, he remembered that she had been nice to him over many other people.

Curious as he was, Justin had been looking through a pair of binoculars towards the water farthest from him. He had spotted a large, serpent like creature swimming towards them with an angry mouth open, and he knew it was a Gyarados. Justin enjoyed messing with people sometimes, but this wasn't the time for games. He ran right up to the Professor.

"Professor Redwood! There's a big problem coming right our way! Just look!" He said as he handed him the binoculars.

"Justin, he was telling us about how he fought a gigantic Dragonite here! Way to ruin an epic story!" Justin just pointed out in the direction of the Gyarados. It had gotten here faster than he thought. The kid who yelled at him, Randy, he remembered, just said, "Oh."

"Everyone get under the deck!" Justin said as he opened a door leading below deck. The students flocked below deck and Justin closed the door, then ran to the Professor.

"Can I help you with anything?" Redwood nodded and said, "Get everyone below deck."

"I already did that."

"Well then no. Get down!"

He was glad he did get down as he narrowly avoided the serpent's Hyper Beam. He was smart, but happened to be possibly the smallest kid in the class and right now was thankful for it. He wasn't hit head on, but the Hyper Beam's heat still hurt. Luckily, he wasn't burned.

As he was getting up, the boat rocked back and forth over and over again. He eventually lost his balance, and he ended up falling into the water. He remembered seeing Gyarados and another creature swimming towards him before blacking out. When he woke up, he was sitting in a hospital bed with a small tube feeding him some sort of liquid. As he regained consciousness, instinct kicked in and he immediately started coughing, trying to get the water out. After a few minutes of waiting once he realized he wasn't still drowning, he heard a doctor telling someone outside the door something. After adjusting his attention, he made out, "I don't know how long he'll be asleep for. He might not wake up at all." He heard what sounded like someone crying, and he decided now was the time to be obnoxious about his swift recovery.

"Hey Doc, can I get some food in here? I'm starving!" The Doctor opened the door and stared at Justin in shock as his smile grew. His mother immediately engulfed him in a hug that threatened to cut off his oxygen supply yet again.

He wanted answers. "How..?"

"Did you get here?" He nodded, so she continued. "After you fell in the water, the Professor had his Kingdra dive down to get you."

He understood now. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About a week. You really gave us a scare. I was so worried."

"Did anyone else get hurt?"

"Luckily, no. But I'm just happy my little boy's alright." She crushed him again.

"Well I won't be all right for long if you keep crushing my lungs." After she let him go, he realized something. "Oh No!"

"What?"

"I missed a full week of school!"

The Doctor chimed in. "Well you're going to miss more. We need to keep you here for three more days to make sure you don't have any lingering injuries. Even if it's falling in the water, falling twenty feet from a ship is gonna hurt. Then, you can go home."

"No."

His mother was surprised at what he just said. He had always been a good boy. He never talked back to adults and always listened to what he was told. So she was more than a little bit shocked when he outright said "No" to the doctor.

"What? What do you mean, No?"

"I mean no. Normally I'd listen, but I don't want to miss any more school then I already have. Besides, this place is boring. No one to talk to, no video games, my food is a liquid coming from a tube, and I pretty much have to stay in a bed for three days. Sorry, but I'm gonna pass." He began carefully removing the tubes from his body.

"Hey, stop that! You don't know what you're doing!" Justin just ignored him and continued. After all the tubes were out (The Doctor couldn't try to stop him because that could damage the tubes and possibly Justin's body.), Justin got up, stretched out his arms and legs, and walked around the room a bit.

"See? I'm absolutely fine. Now, can I please go home? I really need some food."

The Doctor sighed. "Well, I don't think telling you no is gonna work too well. Very well, he can be released today."

That night, his mom ordered him pizza from his favorite pizzeria in town. When he got to school, everyone had been shocked to see him. Apparently, they'd seen him go to the hospital, which really annoyed him because people asked him about nothing but it. He just wanted to forget about it and move on.

Justin decided to take his mind back to the present as he heard what sounded like a strange call, one he'd never heard. No one else seemed to be able to hear it, so he assumed it was just his imagination.

Boy, was he wrong.

 **So, what do you think's going to happen? Let me know!**


	6. Chapter 6: Andre

Justin flinched in surprise as he heard the call yet again. But for some reason, nobody could hear it except for him. He thought about it for a few minutes, then realized what was happening.

 _Azelf?_

 _ **It only took you ten minutes to understand that. Honestly, sometimes I feel like Uxie did an absolutely terrible job at giving humans wisdom. I'll probably ask her about it later. Anyway, there is a Pokemon in trouble near you. I would save it myself, but I feel as if this is a job for you.**_

 _How far away is it?_

 _ **On the other side of the beach. A word of advice, you might want to bring along your friend, the one with the Squirtle.**_

 _Understood._

Justin got up and ran over to Anthony as quickly as he could. "You know where Shawn is?"

"Yeah, he went back to the Pokemon Center. Why?"

"Oh, for the love of-" Justin started, but then he just sighed in defeat.

 _What now, Azelf?_

 _ **I would recommend bringing him with you instead. You need a teammate for this.**_

 _Ok, then_.

"Anthony, come on. I need your help with this."

"Wait, what-" He began, but was interrupted by Justin saying, "No questions. Just trust me."

"Fine. You really are a weird kid."

"Aren't we all?"

"Good point. Maybe we should tell Diana where we're headed. Speaking of which, where are we going?"

"The other side of the beach."

"But to walk all the way there would be work. You know we're both lazy."

"Yeah, but this is serious. Serious enough that we don't have time to run back to Diana. Now let's get going. Time is of the essence."

"Yeah, whatever."

Once they got there, they found themselves all alone. The area itself had more pebbles than sand, so it was understandable.

 _Azelf, are you sure this is the place?_

 _ **Yes. Look in the distance, near the port.**_

Justin looked to see a large blue Pokemon held inside of a net. Its long neck looked perfect for someone to grab on to, and the grey shell on its back was covered in spikes. Under the shell, a yellow underbelly was beneath a blue torso that had four large fins sticking out of it.

The Lapras desperately struggled to escape from its prison, but the net held it tight. Justin immediately started running towards the Lapras to try and help it.

 _Problem is, I can't get it down from there myself. I have no idea how to work the machine that controls the net._ He only knew one way around that problem. Hopefully it would free Lapras.

He threw the Pokeball before it was even primed, making sure he hit between the rope of the net. It clicked twice before Lapras emerged from the ball, still wildly thrashing about. Apparently, it hadn't noticed it was free from the net yet.

"Lapras! Calm down, okay? You're free now. Everything's going to be okay." Lapras looked around to see that it was completely safe, and turned towards Justin.

"I'm Justin, and this is Zeus." The Pikachu in question squeaked happily. Lapras made a noise Justin assumed was a greeting. Justin needed to know something, however. "How'd you get in that net? People around here know it's illegal to hunt Lapras. Was this an accident? Or was someone actually hunting you?" Lapras nodded at the second option.

"Well then, I'd say they need a piece of our minds, wouldn't you?" Lapras knew what Justin meant, and fervently nodded.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Justin turned to see about 10 members of Team Hurricane, with someone leading them that looked a bit different. His outfit was just a palette swap of the grunts' outfits, and he had Brown hair that reached halfway down his back. _Wow. That guy really needs a haircut._

 _ **Agreed.**_

"Hey, boss! Those are two of the kids that got in our way back in the woods!"

The leader seemed surprised. "Is that so? These _Rookies_ took you down? I thought I'd taught you better than that, but apparently not."

"You don't understand. That kid," He pointed at Justin, "His Charmander was something else! And there was another one, with a Squirtle! That Squirtle had one heck of a Water Spout. I'd watch myself around these kids, but of course you probably don't need to."

"Of course I don't." He faced Justin and Anthony with an uninterested look. "Listen, boy. I'll let you off the hook for this time, but only because I'm gonna crush you later. Look forward to it. But remember this no matter what. My name is Andre. Goodbye." He faced the others. "Come on, let's go back. I've got work to do."

"Yeah, whatever." With that, Lapras tapped Justin's belt. Justin figured it wasn't a coincidence that it tapped the same exact place where his Pokeballs were. "You want to come along with me?" It nodded. "Okay then, Poseidon. He held out his Pokeball so Lapras could go inside it. Lapras widened its eyes at the nickname and pressed the button on the Pokeball with its snout. It shook for a second since Poseidon probably had to get used to its surroundings. After that, the Pokeball stayed still.

"Well then, it seems you've made yet another friend. I always liked Lapras, since kind of like me, they're not battling's biggest fans. So tell me, why did you bring me along?" Just as he asked that, a large flash of light came from under the water, and out popped a Chinchou.

 _Azelf, did you do this for Anthony?_

 _ **Yes. I had originally assumed that a battle would take place, but since it didn't, I felt like your friend deserved a reason to come along.**_

 _How nice of you._

 _ **But of course.**_

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any, right?" Anthony gave Justin a strange look.

"Did you know that this would happen?"

"No, I just figured there'd be a battle, but hey, this works, right?"

"Guess so. Here we go!" Anthony released Turtwig, who looked around before setting its eyes on Chinchou. Turtwig went into a battle stance, ready to fight for his trainer.

"Seed Bomb!" Turtwig launched giant seeds that suddenly sprouted from the leaf on its back, and the second one hit Chinchou head on, allowing the third to knock it out. Anthony threw the Pokeball, and easily caught it.

He released Chinchou, who immediately started after Anthony poured the powder of a revive into its mouth.

"Hey there Chinchou. I'm Anthony. This is Turtwig. Do you know what's going on?"

It nodded happily after realizing that it wasn't in danger.

"Cool. Hey, how would you like to come along with me on my journey? I'm sure we'd get to have lots of fun and make plenty of friends. You'd get way stronger, too!" Chinchou pretty much instantly accepted, happily jumping around.

Chinchou and its evolution, Lanturn, were aquatic Pokemon that could survive on land as well. Justin was pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that they could balance the protons and electrons in the air particles around them.

Justin broke himself out of his train of thought when Anthony scanned Chinchou.

 _"Chinchou, the Angler Pokemon. Female. It shocks its opponents and floats outside of water by releasing positive and negative energy from its antennas."_

 _I totally called that,_ Justin thought.

 _"This Chinchou knows the moves Bubble, Supersonic, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball, Water Gun, Bubble Beam, Confuse Ray, Spark, Psybeam, Water Pulse, and Whirlpool. It has a Timid Nature, and prefers Sweet foods over Spicy ones. Its ability is Volt Absorb, which allows it to completely absorb all electric attacks safely."_

 _Well, there goes Zeus having an advantage. Oh man, I never scanned Poseidon!_

At that, Justin released Poseidon.

"Hey buddy, I just realized I never scanned you! That's ok with you, right? If I scan you?" Poseidon nodded.

 _"Lapras, the transport Pokemon. Male. Lapras is a very intelligent species, and is naturally kind. It gives humans and Pokemon in need of one a ride across the sea. This Lapras knows the moves Sing, Growl, Water Gun, Mist, Confuse Ray, Ice Shard, Water Pulse, Body Slam, Rain Dance, Dragon Pulse, Freeze-Dry, and Whirlpool. Its ability is Hydration, which heals its own Status Conditions in the rain. It has a bold nature, and prefers Sour foods over Spicy ones."_

Justin was excited to see Freeze-Dry on Poseidon's move set. He didn't know all of the science around it, but he knew that something made water types more susceptible to the move, so he wasn't complaining.

As he returned Poseidon and Anthony returned Chinchou, he said, "Let's go back. I'm tired. I don't think we were gone too long, but we were gone long enough. So let's not have them worry about us."

As they made their way back to Glazeburn city's beach, Justin felt like they were being followed. He figured it was just from Azelf having that constant small pressure on his mind.

Something weird kept nagging at the back of his head, though. When he got back to his room, he released his friends, with the exception of Poseidon, and fell asleep.

The next morning was gonna be nothing like he expected, though.

 **There you have it! Number 6! To the people that have read this story and given me advice on how to make it better, I really appreciate all of it. Thanks a lot! On a side note, I apologize for not having this up sooner. School recently started back up again, and all you need to do is couple that with the fact that I didn't have much inspiration to write to create a recipe for disaster. School actually helped me instead of hindering my writing, though. Reason being that seeing all my old friends that I hadn't over the summer put me in a really good mood, and I was feeling good enough to start writing. Thanks for reading!**

 **-Justin**


	7. Chapter 7: Sergeant Woods

**WASSUP BOYS!**

 **Chapter 7 is finally here! It's been a while, hasn't it? I just got back to school and my schedule is an absolute wreck. But fear not, it's here now.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 7: Sergeant Woods

"Ok, screw this!"

So said Anthony as he went through an inner turmoil. He wanted to go back to Grapevine Woods and catch another Pokemon, but not without everyone else. Well, excluding Justin. He kinda deserved being left out of one small detail of the trip, considering he went and caught a Pikachu on his own.

 _But what about Shawn and Diana? I don't want to leave them in the dirt. Wait a minute, I'm an idiot! I know what to do._

He pulled out his Pokenav and wrote a text message to Shawn and Diana.

 _Hey guys, it's Anthony. I had an idea. How about the three of us go back to Grapevine Woods so we can get ourselves another Pokemon? It's only fair, since Justin went off and caught that Pikachu of his. Regardless, I'm leaving at 11:30 tonight. Meet me in front of the Pokemon Center if you're in._

Anthony was just leaving the Pokemon Center, when he saw Shawn and Diana walking towards him.

"So you're coming along too, huh? Thanks for that. I could use the company."

"You know something, Anthony? You're _really_ bad at sending messages to the right people."

They turned to see Justin tossing a Pokeball up and down in his hand with Nightcrawler on his shoulder.

Anthony meant it when he said Justin wouldn't be going with him. "Well then, what now? I'm not going if you're going too."

"Well it's a good thing I'm not coming. Just... good luck. I have faith in you guys, but you never know. Also, if you'd like, Zeus can come with you, so he can show you around the forest."

"No thanks," Diana said. "We'll be fine. Thanks anyway, though." Shawn remained surprisingly silent.

"Okay then. See you tomorrow." With that, he walked back upstairs to his room.

"That... went surprisingly well," Shawn said.

"Yeah, I honestly expected him to whine about us being pricks. Guess he figured he deserved it. Well, let's get going!"

Anthony took off towards the forest, Shawn and Diana right on his tail.

Justin stared out the window. _I hope they'll be all right._

 _ **They will. I'll make sure they're safe from any sort of danger.**_

 _Just... don't interfere unless you have to. I put my faith in them, and I don't want to feel like I'm holding them back or anything by not letting them get out of situations themselves._

 _ **Okay then.**_

Justin released Blitz.

"Hey buddy, we're gonna start working on something fun tomorrow. You up for a challenge?"

Blitz nodded instantly, a grin that seemed almost maniacal on his face.

"Next up, Nightcrawler." Said Venipede was released. "Hey buddy, I know I haven't worked with you as much as I should. That's gonna change tomorrow. You ready for some kick ass training?" Justin normally watched his mouth, since his friends didn't like it when he said stuff like that. But this was his room. He had his own rules. Not that he said too many bad things, but he still wasn't as reserved.

Zeus popped up next. "Ready to train tomorrow? We're going learn something special for ya." The Pikachu in question nodded.

 _I'll train Poseidon too, but this isn't the best place to let him out. Not that he can't survive outside of water, but he's waay too big. Oh well, time to go to sleep._ He laid down, the last thing he was thinking about being how strong his team will be when his friends evolve.

"Maybe we should have enlisted the help of Zeus."

"Anthony, I told him we didn't need Zeus's help because we can take care of ourselves. Plus, it would've felt like Justin was here, too. We agreed to do this without him."

"Still can't believe he didn't bitch even a little," Shawn said.

"Watch your language!"

"Does it really matter? We're trainers now, we're basically adults according to the legal system. Honestly, foul language isn't that big of a deal..But since you asked nicely, and I use the term loosely, I still can't believe he didn't whine even a little. Happy?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

Shawn had himself an idea. "Let's split up. Maybe we can find what we're looking for more easily. Plus, it'll be fun to surprise each other."

"Not a bad idea there, Shawn! Okay, I agree!"

With that, they went their separate ways.

Shawn already knew what he was looking for, and quickly headed for a large garden he had seen earlier. In the corner farthest to the back of the garden, he found what he was looking for. He released Geodude.

"Hey buddy, use Hammer Arm on that Budew back there, okay?" Geodude nodded. Its arm started glowing vigorously with massive amounts of energy.

Anthony headed for the waterfall he remembered seeing near the lake. He hoped what he had seen was still there. As he looked over to it, he spotted a serpent like creature swimming around the water.

 _There it is! I've always wanted a Dratini._ He smirked as he released Chinchou. He was too excited to worry about stealth. "Psybeam!"

Diana walked towards the lake, all the while looking for Budew or something else that she thought was cute. As she passed by a group of trees, she felt something fall on to her shoulder. She looked to her left to see a Spinarak crawling on her arm. She slapped it off her arm and released Piplup. _You know, for a disgusting little bug, it's actually kinda cute._ "Hydro Pump!"

Shawn was racking his brain for ideas. Budew had put Geodude in a nasty spot. Geodude was stun spored and Budew was draining his energy. _I've gotta think of something quick. I could try Hammer Arm again, but Budew will probably just dodge it. I haven't tried Mega Punch, but I've got a gut feeling that Budew will just dodge that too. Well, at this point, anything's worth a shot._ "Mega Punch!"

Budew stopped short, not knowing what to expect from this new attack. It figured it out, although after it hit might have been a bit too late. Budew was sent flying, and didn't get back up.

Shawn tossed his Pokeball at Budew quickly, not wanting to take the risk of it suddenly getting back up again. Another easy catch. He gave Geodude a potion and a paralyze heal. Unfortunately, potions didn't completely heal wounds, but they did extremely accelerate the healing process. Paralyze Heals, on the other hand, completely cured the Pokemon of battle paralysis. Next up, he sat with his legs crossed and released Budew, giving it a revive. As the yellow powder went in Budew's mouth, it slowly regained consciousness.

"Hey there Budew, you okay?" At its happy nod, he continued. "I caught you, you know that?" Budew nodded once again. "So, how about you come along with me? We'd get to meet plenty of friends, and have plenty of adventures!" Budew became suddenly excited, jumping up and down. "Well, I guess there's my answer!" Shawn pulled out his Pokedex and scanned Budew.

 _Budew, the bud Pokemon. Male. It is very sensitive to changing temperatures. When it is extremely warm, its bud blooms, releasing toxic pollen. This Budew knows the moves Growth, Water Sport, Stun Spore, Giga Drain, Extrasensory, Leaf Storm, Seed Bomb, Sleep Powder, and Synthesis. It has a Bold nature. It's ability is Poison Point, which may poison opposing Pokemon upon contact with it._

 _Dayum, the moves tho! I really wasn't expecting that. Still, Budew aren't known to be fighters. Even with moves like that, it's gonna take a lot of training to get Budew to be a true battler. But I'm not worried. I know Budew has the power to be a monster as a Roserade and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure Budew can live up to his potential._ Shawn started heading back to the gates of Glazeburn.

"Bubble Beam!" Chinchou sprayed massive bubbles towards Dratini at high speed. Dratini became nothing but a blur as it slipped into Extreme Speed yet again. _Dammit! I can't even lay a scratch on that thing. It just keeps using Extreme Speed over and over again. I've got to figure something out. Wait a minute. I've got it!_

"Psybeam! Aim for the floor!" Chinchou blasted the ground with psychic force, and instead of the beam bouncing off the floor, it spread into a large wave, stunning Dratini and giving Anthony the opportunity he needed.

"Now, one last Psybeam!" Chinchou sprayed Dratini in the head, and it finally fell unconscious. _Thank god, that was starting to become a total drag. At least I'm done._ Anthony chucked the Pokeball at Dratini and easily caught it.

Anthony released Dratini, but decided to scan it before reviving it.

 _"Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. Female. It is sometimes known as the mirage Pokemon, as almost nobody ever sees one in their lifetime."_

"Lucky me..."

 _"This Dratini knows the moves Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Slam, and Extreme Speed. Its ability is Marvel Scale, which increases the Pokemon's defensive abilities while afflicted with a status condition. It has a Jolly nature, and prefers Sweet foods over Dry ones."_

 _I definitely already knew Dratini had Extreme Speed. And Dragon Rage. Can't forget about Dragon Rage,_ he thought as he recalled Dratini. _I'll revive Dratini when I'm with Shawn and Diana._ He started walking back towards the town gate.

"Peck!" Piplup's beak became encased in glowing light as it charged towards Spinarak, who immediately hopped out of the way before slashing at Piplup's back with a surprisingly sharp leg encased in dark energies. _What is that move? I know I've seen it somewhere._ Spinarak then became shrouded in ghostly energy, and seemed to blend in with the shadows as it charged towards Piplup. _Shadow Sneak. Well if that don't beat all..._ "Hydro Pump!" Spinarak was unable to stop its charge in time to dodge the blast, and was instantly knocked out. Diana tossed the ball carefully at Spinarak, making sure she didn't waste a Pokeball by missing. The catch wasn't very hard.

 _I don't want to release Spinarak until I'm with the others. To be honest, it's still a bit creepy and it really freaked me out when it crawled down my arm. I just want to make sure I have backup in case something goes wrong. Yeah, that's it. I'm not scared. But then why I am trying to reassure myself of that? Oh well. I'd best head back. Although it wouldn't hurt to get another look at that gorgeous lake._ Diana started walking in the direction of the lake.

Shawn woke with a start when Anthony tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it? I'm up." _Well, barely, anyway._

"Diana didn't come back yet?"

"No, she didn't. Wait, you didn't see her?" _I hope nothing's wrong. I couldn't live with myself if one of my friends had gotten hurt and I just napped through it._

"Nope. Think we should go look for her?"

"No, give her like, five or ten minutes. You know girls, after all. Always taking their time." _She's probably out doing something girly..._

Diana was still absolutely mesmerized by what she was seeing. It wasn't very tall, but it was still absolutely beautiful. Its pink "hair" went down the sides and back of its head in dreadlocks, and directly in the center of its forehead lied a great red gem. It looked too brilliant to be a ruby, but what else could it be? No other gem she knew of could possess such a brilliant red, yet there it was. She looked at its tails to see crown-shaped structures at the end of them with gems of the same brilliant red directly in the middle of the crown. It was beautiful, and made her want to stare at it forever. Her emotions felt amplified somehow, so she felt like the slightest bit of sadness could make her burst into tears, and happiness could make her easily jump for joy.

 _ **I am Mesprit, being of emotion and first of the lake spirits of Sinnoh. I sense much emotion within you young one, and yet I also see much potential.**_

 _Mesprit? No way. I don't believe this is happening._ Mesprit had the voice of a young woman, yet she seemed to hold so much power.

 _ **I see an inner turmoil within you. Tell me, how much do you appreciate what is given to you in life? Answer with your mind, it's easier that way.**_

 _So all I need to do is think my answers and you'll hear them?_

 _ **That is correct.**_

 _Well, I always be sure to feel thankful for the things I get in life in the back of my head._

 _ **How often, however, do you feel yourself wanting more than what you are allowed?**_

 _I don't think lying would do me any good, so I'm just gonna tell you the truth._

 _ **You're right. It won't, but continue**_ _._

 _I always seem to find myself hoping for more than what I've got. I feel like everyone else has the same thoughts. You never have enough, you always need more, and you most of the time pay dearly for it._

 _ **Excellent. I will help you on your journey.**_

 _Wait, what? But I admitted to not being pure or whatever._

 _ **Yes, but you spoke truly and honestly about your own emotions, which is what I desired. Do not tell your friends Shawn and Anthony of me.**_

 _Wait, what about Justin?_

 _ **He already knows of your alliance with me. Just as you will know of his alliance with Azelf, my brother.**_

 _Justin's hanging out with one of you guys too?_

 _ **To make a long story short, yes.**_

 _Cool, I guess. Well, I've got to go. I'm sure my friends are worried about me._

 _ **Very well. If you ever require my assistance, merely ask for me in your mind and I shall answer.**_

 _Cool._

 _ **Sayonara, young miss Diana.**_

With that, Diana walked towards the town gate.

 _...like her hair,_ Anthony thought.

"So, how'd everything go?"

"I made off like a bandit", Shawn said. "My Budew knows so many awesome moves. I'm sure Budew will make a great asset to my team."

"Dratini's got Extreme Speed."

Diana and Shawn gave him a look of "What the hell?"

"Dratini? I'm not even gonna ask how. Spinarak seems okay. I haven't released it since I caught it. I kinda wanted to show Justin, since he showed us Zeus."

"Okay then. Wait to show Justin it is, then. Let's head back to the Pokemon Center."

With that, they started walking.

 **What did you think? Sorry this update took a while, by the way! I didn't exactly have much writing time, what with school starting up again. Teachers sure do love giving homework nowadays, I'll tell you. I hope you guys don't mind too much!**

 **Hope you enjoyed. Until next time!**

 **\- Justin**


	8. Chapter 8: Great Ballz of Bugs

**Hey guys! Back with another update for you! I'm really glad I've had a lot of days off from school lately. It's what gave me the opening I needed to get the last one up. I'm excited that it's not the beginning of the year anymore, and I finally smoothed out my schedule, so I have time to write this. It definitely won't be another huge gap like from Chapter 6 to Chapter 7, that's for sure. I'm gonna keep trying my best to update often. And about Uxie, who do you think should meet Uxie? I have something planned for the person who doesn't meet Uxie, and just felt like I should ask for you guys' opinions on the matter. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

"So, how'd it go?"

Shawn, Anthony, and Diana just grinned as they held up Budew's, Dratini's, and Spinarak's balls respectively.

"I'd like to know what's in them, you know."

"Okay then, let's go to the beach and release them. I'm sure you don't mind walking."

"Why the beach? Did you never release them the first time, right after you caught them?"

"Nope. Anthony scanned Dratini but never revived it. I never released Spinarak. It really creeps me out and I wanted some moral support."

"Well then let's go! I want to meet your new buddies."

Anthony poured the yellow powder into Dratini's mouth, making sure all of it went in. Dratini awoke with a start.

"Hey buddy. You okay?" Dratini nodded. "You know I caught you, right?" Again Dratini nodded. "So, how about you come along with me on my trip through the region? We'd have loads of fun and make all sorts of friends." Dratini became happy at the prospect of making new friends and jumped to Anthony's shoulder. "Speaking of friends, I'd like you to meet the rest of the team." He released Turtwig and Chinchou.

"Whoa whoa whoa, when did you get that Chinchou?"

"I caught it when me and Justin saved a Lapras from Team Hurricane. You named your Lapras Poseidon, right?"

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys about that. Shawn, I had originally intended to take you with me, but you went back to the Pokemon Center, so Anthony came along instead."

 _Dammit,_ Shawn thought. _I could have caught another Pokemon as well. That's annoying._

"Why didn't you ever tell us about this?"

Justin bit his lip. "It... never came up?

"Eughh, whatever. Anyway, here I go!" Spinarak appeared from the Pokeball with a flash of light. Diana carefully approached it before giving it the revive. Spinarak slowly opened its eyes to see Diana standing next to it. It immediately went into a battle stance.

"Whoa, calm down, buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you. If anything, I want to help you. You could be way stronger and make so many friends. It'd be so much fun!"

Spinarak went to a passive stance, as if to say, "I'm listening."

"You could come along with me on my journey. How about it?"

Spinarak seemed to slowly attempt to form a smile before giving up on it and just shrieking happily.

"Mind if I scan you with this?"

Spinarak just stood still as consent.

 _Spinarak, the String Spit Pokemon. Female. It constructs its web with thin, yet sturdy silk. It then waits staying completely still for prey to arrive. This Spinarak knows the moves Poison Sting, String Shot, Constrict, Leech Life, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, and Night Slash._

 _Oh, that's what that move was. Night Slash._

 _Is has an Adamant nature, and prefers Spicy foods over Dry ones._

"Night Slash, huh? That's pretty cool. Sounds like something that would come in handy later. How about you, Anthony? Dratini know any cool moves?"

"Well, there's Extreme Speed. And Dragon Rage. So, that's a thing."

"Huh. Pretty cool. Shawn?"

"Budew's got a bunch of badass moves. Extrasensory, Sleep Powder, Giga Drain. I got lucky, but Budew's no battle expert. It's still gonna take a lot of work."

"You bring up a fantastic point. Anyway, I'm gonna go to the other side of the beach."

"Why? Isn't it like a barren wasteland over there?"

"Yeah. That's why I'm going there. I'm gonna do some training."

"So we're spending one last day in what's known as the most beautiful city in Jiman, and you're going to spend it... training."

"I know, I'm excited too."

"Yeah, ok."

Justin ran to the other side of the beach before releasing his friends.

"Ready to train, guys?"

They all cheered happily. "Okay, we've got the whole day to do this. Let's go. Blitz, I want you working on flamethrower. Give me one second." He pulled out his Pokedex and looked through the videos. He showed Blitz a video of flamethrower. The Charizard on the screen sucked oxygen into its mouth before releasing a massive blast of flame from its maw.

"You understand? It's just like Ember, but you have to get much more oxygen, and focus the pyro sacs inside your mouth completely on the attack. As you get used to it, you should need less and less oxygen to do it. You ready?" Blitz nodded instantly. "Ok then, get started on that. Zeus!"

Zeus ran right up to Justin. "You're gonna work on thunderbolt. It's just like Thunder Shock, except it requires much more electricity. Think you're up for it?" Zeus nodded. He was ready. "Wait. Let me show you a video." The Ampharos on screen let sparks fly across the surface of its body before releasing it in a massive blast. "You got that down?" Zeus nodded. "Okay, have fun."

Justin walked over to Poseidon. "You'll be working on Ice Beam. Take a look." A Blastoise appeared on the screen, and formed a ball of light blue energy before releasing it from its maw. As the beam traveled, it split into arcs of icy cold power which completely froze over the giant boulder they hit. "Think you're ready?" Poseidon instantly began attempting to form the same blue energy ball.

"Hey Nightcrawler. You ready to learn rollout?" Nightcrawler cheered. "Okay, look at this." The Whirlipede began spinning itself around before launching itself at extremely high speed. "Because you're not a Whirlipede yet, you'll have to curl up into a ball by tucking in your legs and moving your head towards your tail. You think you can do that?" Nightcrawler happily nodded. "All right then, let's get to work. Tuck in your legs first."

Nightcrawler kept trying to tuck in all of his legs at once, but couldn't manage to get them all in because two or three of them always seemed to be stubborn. "You're too worried about losing your balance. But, I have an idea. Try jumping up and doing it." Nightcrawler nodded before jumping and easily tucking in all of his legs. "Nice job. Now, try moving your head towards your tail after you've tucked in your legs, ok?" Nightcrawler grunted an affirmative before jumping and tucking in all of his legs and moving its head in on its tail. "Okay, now you've got the positioning down. Jump as high as you can, and try to spin once you've gotten into position." Nightcrawler began spinning as soon as he got into position, and once he hit the ground, he took off at speeds of at least 25mph.

"Great job, Nightcrawler. Now, keep practicing that, and I'll see how you're doing at the end of the day, okay?" Nightcrawler nodded before jumping up yet again.

 _Blitz looks like he's having trouble with flamethrower._ It suddenly became extremely cold over the side of the field Blitz wasn't on, which happened to be where Justin was. Justin grumbled in annoyance before continuing over to Blitz.

 _At least Poseidon's getting the hang of Ice Beam. Still, I need to work with Blitz as well. He's not doing too good with flamethrower._

 _ **Indeed he is. I could help him if you wish.**_

 _No. I don't want Blitz to only use a move with help from a legend. He needs to learn this on his own._

 _ **Very well. But I must say, having the Bug-Type jump to complete his roll was a nice idea.**_

 _Thanks, but it was really just because I needed to think of something that would work. Right now, Nightcrawler is worried he'll lose balance and fall if he tucks in his legs on the ground. Besides, the jump gives him extra momentum and increases his speed and velocity, so that's pretty cool since it makes rollout stronger._

 _ **Indeed.**_

Justin made it over to Blitz just as Azelf finished telling him about Diana's bond with Mesprit.

 _Pretty cool, she's chilling with Mesprit._

 _ **Yes, although I'm surprised Uxie didn't contact her. She usually enjoys speaking with people like her.**_

 _Eh, it doesn't really matter. I mean, what about me? I know I met you when I was little, but I'd personally considered myself as wise, although I'm not gonna brag about it._

 _ **Uxie was going to speak with you, but I deterred her from it because of that encounter.**_

 _Oh, I get it. Hang on, I need to speak to Blitz._

"Blitz, it looks like you're having some trouble." Blitz vehemently denied it, but Justin just laughed. "Everyone has difficulty with something at some point. Did you know that for my first 3 years of school, I was the top student? Well obviously you didn't, since we hadn't met yet, but that's besides the point. You get it. Then all of a sudden, everybody's catching up. I never realized it before then, but I had reached my peak as a student during year three, and I couldn't learn new things as easily as I did. You probably practiced all of the moves you know quite a bit, basing yourself only on the fragments of the memories of your parents knowing those moves. You learned those easily because you already had a metric ton of examples in your memory. Now, you're learning something extremely complicated based on a single example. It's pretty obvious that you're gonna have some degree of difficulty. Not to mention the fact that you're still a Charmander, and you're small, so your lungs can't hold as much oxygen. Look, the point is, don't worry about it. Let's keep moving forward. Start by breathing deeply in and out of your mouth." Blitz nodded before doing the deep breathing exercises thoroughly. "Okay, you done?" Blitz smiled and nodded. "Now try using ember, but suck in much more oxygen." Blitz formed a massive ember with the extremely deep breath he took in. "Nice one. Do it again, but this time, try combining the ember into a single stream." Blitz sucked oxygen into his mouth again before releasing a small, steady stream of flame. "Good one! Now, just keep doing that, and show me how far you've gotten at the end of the day today, all right?" Blitz smiled and nodded before turning his face to an expression of determination.

 _It's a pretty small flamethrower, but I'm glad he's got it down. It'll get better as time goes on. Zeus looks like he's doing okay, but I still wanna see how he's doing on this._

"Zeus, you look like you're doing pretty good. Why don't you show me how far you've gotten?" Zeus nodded before sparks began jumping all over his body towards his cheek pouches in a constant cycle, before he let out a massive burst of what might as well be lightning into the air. Justin whistled. "Wow. Okay then, just keep practicing that, and we'll see how much more you've gotten better with it at the end of the day." Zeus nodded before releasing more electricity.

 _And how are you doing, Poseidon?_

 _ **Well, in any case, it seems like the Pikachu has made much progress.**_

 _Yeah, you got that right._

"Poseidon, show me your Ice Beam so far." Poseidon nodded before forming the same exact ball of light blue energy as the video. Poseidon released it from its mouth, but just before hitting the boulder he'd been aiming at, it fizzled out.

"Okay, so you can form it and launch it, but it keeps dying out. Try making it colder."

"Poseidon formed the ball again, although it shone with a sky blue light and traveled much faster. It split into five arcs of icy energy before completely freezing one of the many boulders scattered across the beach.

"Great job, buddy! Just keep going with this and we'll see how much you've progressed at the end of the day, all right?" Poseidon nodded.

 _I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm gonna take a nap._

 _ **All right, I'll wake you if, as some humans say, shit hits the fan.**_

 _I'm gonna pull a Diana here. Watch your language, Azelf._

 _ **Hehehe, it's funny because she's one of the only people that cares about that.**_

 _Indeed._

Diana had a look of awe as she regarded the fossil. It was a pure skull, with serrated spiked edges wrapping around the forehead. No other part of the body seemed to be present, but the sandstone surrounding the skull she personally thought looked very pretty.

 _Wow, what is this? It's definitely a piece of some ancient life form, but what? I'll figure it out later._ She dusted off the fossil before carefully placing it inside her bag. She wasn't stupid enough to not be careful with it, since she knew these fossils were ancient and while they were at least perfect preservation of one body part, they were also extremely fragile. _I'm definitely hanging on to this, at least until I know what it is. Then I'll decide what to do with it._

"Ouch! What the heck was that?" Shawn looked at his leg to see a large bite mark on it. _Where did that come from?_ He looked to where he was sitting to see a small shark like creature digging around in the sand where his feet had been. _So this Gible decided "Hey I'm gonna bite Shawn. Because that'll totally end well."_ He released Budew. _Well it'll think twice before deciding on that again._ "Leaf Storm!" Budew nodded before releasing a huge amount of razor sharp leaves and launching them at Gible. Gible dived under the sand, but was denied by the absolute tornado the Leaf Storm created. It was thrown into the air, but landed right in the eye of the storm, and was instantly knocked out. Shawn threw a Pokeball at Gible, easily making the catch. _Prick._

Shawn let Gible out of the Pokeball before giving it a revive. As it swallowed the yellow powder, it's eyes opened. Gible awoke with a start before diving under the sand. Shawn returned it before letting it back out. It went under the sand yet again, and Shawn returned it yet again. The cycle continued, Shawn getting annoyed at the fact that Gible couldn't seem to understand that it wasn't going anywhere. After about five minutes, Gible gave up and sat down facing away from Shawn.

Shawn walked over to Gible. _I am thoroughly angry, and I don't feel like going through this._ "Look, Gible. I caught you. Nothing's changing about that. So, why don't you come with me? You'd get much stronger, and make plenty of friends along the way. And you know what else? You could become a Garchomp." Nothing but the last sentence got through to Gible, who looked at Shawn with awe at the prospect of evolving. Gible nodded and jumped up and down. "Hey Gible, I need to scan you with this." He pulled out his Pokedex. Gible looked at it with wonder, basically asking what it was. "Oh, this? It's a Pokedex. It's gonna tell me stuff about you, like the moves you know and what food you like to eat. That's ok, right?" Gible seemed to get it, and laid back the way Shawn had been, although it only really managed to lay its head down. Its legs remained suspended in midair.

 _Gible, the Land Shark Pokemon. Female. It nests underground, supported by geothermal heat. Foes that step into their territory can expect to be pounced on and bitten._

 _Yeah, I already know that._

 _This Gible knows the moves Tackle, Sand Attack, Dragon Rage, Sandstorm, Take Down, Sand Tomb, Dragon Claw, Dig, and Dragon Breath. Its ability is Rough Skin, which hurts others when contact is made._

 _Mental note,_ Shawn thought. _Never, under any circumstances, pet Gible. Because I don't feel like having my skin cut._

 _It has a Jolly nature, and prefers Sweet foods over Dry ones._

 _Good to know._

"Hey Gible, how about I introduce you to the team?" Gible nodded, seemingly excited about meeting its new friends. "Just be nice, ok?" Shawn released Squirtle, Geodude, and Budew.

"You already know Budew." Budew happily greeted Gible, to which Gible gave a smile. _Good to know, there's no bad blood between them. I was worried for a second that Gible would have mixed feelings about Budew for... obvious reasons._

"This is Squirtle, and that's Geodude." Gible decided it'd be a good idea to test how hard Geodude was, and took a bite out of him. It didn't end well... for Gible, anyway.

Shawn couldn't help but laugh at what happened. As soon as Gible clamped its jaws on Geodude, he used magnitude on the ground beneath him, which created such bad vibrations that Gible wasn't even sent flying, but was shaking like a jackhammer as the vibrations went through its body.

 _Is it strange that I find this funny even though it's my own Pokemon? No, probably not. Justin would laugh, Anthony would laugh, and Diana would laugh. Speaking of Justin, I want myself a battle. It'll be a four on four. Yeah, good idea._

As Shawn calmed down from laughing, he told Squirtle that they were gonna be battling Justin. Squirtle smiled dangerously. "Just tell the rest of the team what to expect from him, ok?"

 _Just you wait, Justin. I won't lose this time. You're going down, buddy._

 _Everyone's made absolutely beautiful progress, huh Azelf?_

 _ **Indeed. Although I feel as though the only one that might have been able to do it without your assistance was the rodent.**_

 _First off, very rude talking about Zeus like that. He's not just a rodent. Second, it feels good to know I can help my team, since they always help me. In any case, I think we'll stop for the day. I'll see how they're doing before heading back to the Pokemon Center._ Justin woke up and walked towards Poseidon. _Pretty cool though, being able to talk to Azelf in my sleep. Better than staying up, in any case._ "All right everybody, bring it in! Let's see those moves. Nightcrawler, use rollout!" Nightcrawler jumped and easily spun around five times in the air before hitting the ground and taking off at speeds of at least 35mph. He pulled five laps around the team before coming to a halt next to Justin.

 _Everything improved! Speed, velocity, power, positioning. I couldn't be happier with the results._

 _ **Indeed, he has improved quite a fair amount.**_

"That was amazing, Nightcrawler! I couldn't have asked for better." Nightcrawler smiled before laying down. _With all the effort that came with learning rollout, who could blame him?_

"Poseidon, Ice Beam on that boulder." The boulder was one of the only ones Poseidon hadn't practiced on.

Poseidon instantly formed a ball of light blue energy that made the air around them freeze over. He released the ball, and it split into six arcs of icy cold power which completely froze the boulder.

 _Poor boulder! Poseidon didn't hold anything back. He also seems to be wide awake. At least Ice Beam doesn't tire him out._

 _ **Yes, poor boulder indeed. I almost felt that from in the water.**_

 _Jesus, that's powerf- wait, what?_

 _ **Yes, I have been in the water.**_

 _Huh. Never noticed._

"Zeus, Thunderbolt." Zeus laid on his back before casually releasing massive amounts of electricity from his cheek pouches.

 _Well, he's got that down._

 _ **Ha, that is surely an understatement.**_

 _Indeed._

"Last but not least, Blitz is gonna show up how amazing he is at using Flamethrower." Blitz quickly sucked in a decent amount of air before he released it in the form of a massive flame from within his mouth.

 _I do not want to ever be in the way of that._

 _ **I don't blame you. As a legend, I take those, but you are a human. You gonna die if that hits you.**_

 _Yes. Yes I am._

"All of you are doing amazing. I couldn't have asked for better. Now I'm gonna recall you. Let's go back to the Pokemon Center." He recalled them into their Pokeballs before sprinting back to the Pokemon Center. _Man, am I glad I took that nap!_

After arriving at the center, he remembered that they had agreed to leave tomorrow. _Too bad, this beach is great for training. Oh well, I'll find another spot later._

"You all ready to head out?"

"Definitely," Shawn said. "But, there's one thing I want to take care of first." _No time to chicken out now. I'm doing this._

"Justin, you already know what it is, don't you?"

"Yeah, I figured as much. You want to embarrass yourself- I mean, uhh, battle me. Yeah. That's it."

"Don't you mock me!"

"Why not? It's so much fun!"

"You know what? Let's do this. You're going down, Justin!"

They both withdrew their Pokeballs.

 **So, it's Shawn versus Justin once again! What do you think will happen? It may not be what you expect!**

 **I'd also like to personally thank The Straight Elf, Justy1993, and Airenee for reviewing the story. Your advice has helped me so much. I really can't thank you guys enough. With that, I bid you Adieu. Thanks for reading!**

 **-Justin**


	9. Chapter 9: Newfound Power

**You already know what's going on, don't you? You are in an illusion...**

 **But not really! It may seem that way for now, but there's no mistake, I'm definitely back! If I'm not, then as a wise man once said on the Dave Chappell show, Cocaine's a hell of a drug. I should have had this up way earlier, but school has been really hard on me. I may be good at it, but school has a way of making itself a real annoyance when you try to do the things you really enjoy, like writing this story! But as well as that, I wanted to make this chapter exciting and action-packed, and I just wasn't getting the inspiration I needed to do that. In my opinion (let's agree to disagree if you have a different one), I think it's much better to upload nothing at all than to upload writing that's forced, sloppy, and has more balls inside it than a gumball machine. But I finally got the inspiration I needed from my buddies. Shout out to my buddies Nico and Joey for supporting me. Shout out to The Straight Elf for uploading another great chapter of Traveler. Last but not least, shout out to Marshmallon for giving me plenty of laughs. Some of you might not know what I mean, but just ask a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan. They'll tell you. Now that the intro that's longer than most short answers I write in school is over, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **P.S. As a matter of fact, I do like both Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon. Deal with it.**

They both threw their Pokeballs, each watching intently to see which Pokemon would be the first brought out. Budew and Poseidon appeared on the field. Justin smiled at Budew. _This shouldn't be too hard. Poseidon may be a water type, but he's also still an ice type, and has plenty of moves to deal with that._

 _ **True, but do not forget that you aren't fighting some random Budew in the woods, and that Shawn knows of Budew's weaknesses to your attacks. He'll have something planned, no doubt.**_

 _Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Azelf._

 _ **You are welcome, my friend.**_

"Leaf Storm!" Budew allowed hundreds of razor-sharp leaves to surround it before launching them at Poseidon.

"Ice Beam!" Poseidon formed a large ball of icy blue energy before blasting six arcs of ice at Budew.

The cold of the ice immediately turned the air around the leaf storm into water, and without anything to propel the leaves, they fell to the ground. The arcs kept going, and hit Budew head on. Budew instantly collapsed.

 _Too bad. Leaf Storm tired the little guy out so much, he didn't stand a chance. But that's not like Shawn. He wouldn't make such an amateur mistake. He must be frustrated. That's the only way I see him doing that. I'll try to calm him down. It won't be any fun if he keeps messing up like that._

"Shawn."

"What?" Shawn asked, clearly aggravated.

"Calm down. You made a stupid mistake. While we all make mistakes, that's not one I'd expect from you. Don't let your anger get the better of you, or you won't stand a chance." Shawn took a couple of deep breaths before he got a determined look on his face.

"Thanks, Justin. I needed that." Shawn was thinking hard about which Pokemon to send out next. _Lemme see here. I could send out Squirtle, but Justin could have freeze-dry. I want to save Gible for last. Then I shouldn't have to reveal too much of his abilities. Guess that leaves me with one option._ He released Geodude.

 _Geodude, huh? Not sure that was smart. Does he know about freeze-dry? That's why he didn't send out Squirtle. That's really all I can think of. It doesn't matter. Once this is out of the way, I'll be in the clear._

"Water Pulse." Poseidon formed a watery ring before shooting it at Geodude.

"Dodge with rollout, then Hammer Arm. Launch yourself into it with rollout if it's still conscious." Geodude nodded, and began rolling diagonally away from the water pulse. Once he got near Poseidon, he jumped up before uncurling from his ball and smashed a fist glowing with powerful energies right into Poseidon's neck. After Poseidon was shown to be conscious, Geodude curled back up into a ball and hit Poseidon square in the head, knocking him out.

"See where a level head takes you?"

"Yes, I do. Who's next?" At this, Justin released Nightcrawler. _Nightcrawler? I should have known that would be his choice. I was thinking he would send out Blitz or Zeus, though. I was not prepared for this._ _I need to test his abilities. I don't think I've ever actually seen Nightcrawler battle. I know nothing of his battling style. I'll start off with a frontal attack, then, and try to get a feel for Nightcrawler's moves and strategies._ "Rollout!" Geodude curled up into a ball and started rolling over to Nightcrawler.

 _A frontal attack? Really? Okay then._ "Intercept with your own rollout." Nightcrawler jumped into the air and got himself in a ball before hitting the ground and taking off. _Geodude may be made of sterner stuff, but Nightcrawler's velocity and speed should give him a win here._

As it so turns out, they were evenly matched. As they crashed into each other, Nightcrawler cried out in pain, and Geodude roared with anger.

 _Okay... so they tie if Nightcrawler goes full speed, but it puts him through a lot of pain. I don't want that to happen again. I'd better try a different approach._ "Use Poison Sting!"

Nightcrawler spit about ten little poison stingers at Geodude, who didn't have time to dodge.

 _Uh oh. That poison could really do a number on Geodude. I've got to finish this, and fast._ "Rollout!" Geodude started rolling towards Nightcrawler at high speed.

 _Not trying the rollout clash again. That was dumb in the first place. But I'm definitely gonna use rollout for something._ "Use rollout to evade!" Nightcrawler jumped and curled into a ball before taking off away from Geodude. _This ought to work. Rollout will tire out Geodude while the poison weakens him even more, and then I'll end it._

As it turns out, Justin was right. Geodude kept getting slower and slower until it was forced to uncurl from his ball.

"End it with Twineedle!" Nightcrawler's two horns started glowing, and he jabbed Geodude with both of them and knocked Geodude to the ground. He didn't get back up.

Justin congratulated Nightcrawler, but something got to him. Nightcrawler was looking dizzy and he could barely stand. "Hey, Nightcrawler-" He started, but before he could finish Nightcrawler collapsed. _I was about to recall him anyway. I knew he couldn't keep going much longer. That tie with rollout must have really done a number on him._ He released Zeus.

Feigning a look of defeat, Shawn sent out Squirtle. Justin just laughed. "Oh man, Shawn, you're gonna put Squirtle through the torment of battling Zeus? You ought to just surrender now."

 _That's it, Justin. Get overconfident. That's exactly what I'm counting on here. "_ Water Spout!" Squirtle released a huge blast of water at Zeus.

"Dodge it with quick attack!" Zeus seemed to disappear with speed before appearing behind Squirtle. "Thunderbolt!" Zeus casually blasted Squirtle with electricity, and Squirtle was laid out on the ground, electrical currents still dancing on his body. As Squirtle slowly struggled to his feet, his desire to win with Shawn broke something in him.

The group watched in awe as Squirtle's entire body began glowing with a massive white light. His body and shell immediately grew larger, and he grew two ears on his head. His tail grew to almost double its original size.

After the process was complete, a new opponent for Zeus was revealed. _Whoa,_ Shawn thought, _Squirt- no, Wartortle looks awesome. And now, it's time for me to beat Justin with him._ Wartortle turned to Zeus. "Water Spout!" It was his turn to release a casual blast. As the water struck him, Zeus was sent flying back across the battlefield to Justin.

 _I'd better finish this before Zeus takes another hit like that._ "Volt Tackle!" Wartortle was still recovering from doing such a powerful blast of water, and had no chance of dodging it. As the electricity made contact, Wartortle grabbed Zeus and threw him in the other direction. Wartortle seemed to have taken quite a bit of damage from the hit, but the recoil from Volt Tackle and being thrown finished Zeus.

Justin was in shock. _I lost? Wow, evolution is overpowered. Well then, I guess Shawn deserves this victory._ "Looks like you win, Shawn. Good battle. As Justin was walking over to high-five Shawn on his win, Shawn thought about it and decided not to take the win without Justin knowing it could continue.

"Wait, Justin. You haven't won just yet."

Justin was confused. "How? I'm out of Pokemon, and there's no way I'm letting this be a four against three battle."

Shawn lifted up Gible's Pokeball. "In here, there's a Gible."

"Why tell me this? You could have just taken the win."

"It didn't seem right. Besides, I want to take down Blitz."

Justin walked back over to his side of the field, then released Blitz. "Hey, Blitz." Blitz turned to Justin with a look that basically said "What's up?"

"Shawn's Squirtle evolved into a Wartortle. Zeus managed to get a good amount of damage in, but you need to finish Wartortle and a Gible. You up for the challenge?" Blitz nodded vigorously, his fiery passion for battle burning within him. "Okay, then. Let's do this!" Blitz was ready as he turned to Wartortle. "Dragon Dance!" Blitz became shrouded in draconic energies.

Dragon Dance worked kind of like a stimulant. The energy from it invigorated the user's muscles, raising their speed and strength beyond their normal limits. Justin was hoping it would help Blitz dodge Wartortle's more dangerous attacks. He wasn't dumb enough to take any chances with this.

"Water pulse!" Wartortle formed a ball of water and shot it towards Blitz. _Wartortle's definitely almost done for. I can't let him take a hit from Blitz, especially if Justin's planning to use the move I think he is._

"Dodge it!" Blitz leapt out of the way with speed that no Charmander should have. "Now use thunder punch!" Blitz ran towards Wartortle with blinding speed before smashing him with an electrified fist. Wartortle was sent flying and collapsed.

 _Damn it. Even after evolution, Wartortle couldn't beat Blitz. But then again, Wartortle was extremely weakened. I don't think Blitz would have taken him down so easily. I guess it's time for the finish. Justin doesn't know any of Gible's moves, tactics, or strategies. There's a reason I had us battle now, close to the beach. Gible can dig under the sand if things get too hectic. But the real question is, do I truly know all about Gible? I guess there's only one way to find out._ Shawn released Gible onto the sand.

"All right, Blitz. It's now or never. Let's show Shawn and his new friend what we're really made of!" Blitz came closer to roaring than growling in his agreement. _Whoa, that's a big sign. When Charmander are close to evolution, their growls turn into lower roars, but that was anything but low compared to before. But while Blitz is very special, considering his move pool, among many other things, he's still just a Charmander. Dragon-Type Pokemon like Gible are powerful from the start, so this is gonna be a chance to show just how close he's gotten to the second position in his path towards master of the food chain._

"Gible, use Sand tomb!" Gible mustered up a giant tornado of sand that started swirling towards Blitz. _This'll be good for me. Sand tomb will damage Blitz to start, and then will inflict longer lasting damage over time. Blitz won't stand a chance._

"Flamethrower!" Blitz sucked oxygen into its lungs and released it in a blast of flame.

 _What's his goal here? He'll just heat up the sand continuously. It'll just hurt more. Unless he's.. no. Justin wouldn't bank his hopes for winning on that. Would he?_

The flames made contact with the sand, immediately turning it cherry red. As Blitz kept up the flame, the sand began to harden a little. _Blitz can't keep this up much longer. I can see maintaining flamethrower is putting a lot of strain on him. Come on, sand tomb._ The sand began to harden at a faster rate, with Gible being strained to control the sand tomb for as long as Blitz had been spewing flames. The sand tomb suddenly came to a halt. Everyone looked at the tornado in awe, because it was still in the air despite being released from Gible's control.

"When you heat up sand enough, it turns into glass, Shawn!"

"I didn't take you for someone to take a big risk like that. I figured you'd just try to dodge it."

Justin just smiled. "That's why I took the risk. You didn't even consider that being a move I'd make. You need to learn to expect the unexpected."

Shawn just gave Justin a glare before focusing back to the battle. _Gible can't take a hit in his condition. What should I do?_

Justin made his move first. "Dragon Dance!" As Blitz was pumping himself up with draconic energy, Justin began to feel dizzy. _Whoa, what's wrong with me? I don't get it. I can't see straight. I don't get it._ Suddenly, Justin collapsed.

"Gible, rest there. Gimme a sec. Hey, Justin!" Shawn ran over to Justin, who Blitz was standing over in a state of panic. "Come on, buddy. Get up. What happened? Anthony, Diana, any ideas?"

Diana spoke first. "It could be the heat. That's the best guess I have. Along with the sun on the beach pounding down, Justin was very close to Blitz's flamethrower. How about you, Anthony?"

"I was gonna say the same thing."

 _Whoa. What's going on here? Am I dreaming? Yeah, this is definitely a dream. But how and why can I know this?_

 _ **It is known as lucid dreaming. You know you are in a dream but you can't escape until it's over.**_

 _Azelf, is that you? No, you're not Azelf. You don't sound anything like each other. Who are you?_

The powerful voice was silent for a moment before speaking. _**I am you. I am the power that dwells deep within you. The power to change everything.**_

 _Then how come I never heard from you before?_

 _ **You... have gotten through your problems without your hidden power. I have not been required to assist you, until now.**_

 _Assist me? What are you talking about? I've got this battle in the bag._

 _ **No. If you continue without me, you'll lose. You need to use your power, which grows along with the bonds between you and your Pokemon. The same power Shawn was able to unleash earlier in your battle.**_

 _What huge power did he unleash? Are you talking about when his Squirtle evolved into Wartortle?_

 _ **Yes. You need that same power to win now. Are you ready to win your battle?**_

 _Okay. Let's do this!_ The voice took form as a blue outline of Justin before walking directly into him.

Shawn, Anthony, and Diana were all in deep thought when the saw something crazy. Justin suddenly was wrapped in a blue aura before opening his eyes and standing up. Besides the aura, the first thing they noticed was that Justin's eyes weren't their normal hazel color, but now two different colors. One eye was a bright blue, and the other was a darker shade of red.

"Shawn, let's finish our battle!" Justin's voice sounded ethereal, like a combination of two people.

"All right then! But first, tell me what's up with your eyes. And your voice. And that weird aura you've got around you." Shawn was a little bit afraid of what Justin would say in response.

"This is my powerful spirit. My power to change everything. Are you ready to lose? Because Blitz and I sure are ready to win. Right, friend?"

Blitz looked up at Justin and nodded before releasing another low roar, this one at Gible. Suddenly, he became wrapped in the same aura as Justin.

"Our bond is in complete sync. And because it is, you're gonna see our true power!" Blitz became glowing a brilliant white as his form began to change. He grew a horn on his head and his body grew about a foot taller. His tail also grew, and the fire on his tail began blazing more than ever before. As the glow faded, Blitz was revealed as a Charmeleon, with the aura now gone. The aura then disappeared from around Justin as well.

Shawn was legitimately afraid. _If Wartortle was able to grab and toss a Pikachu with effortless thunderbolts using Volt Tackle, I can only imagine Blitz's newfound power's limits._

"Dragon Dance." Blitz became shrouded in draconic energies, releasing the self imposed restraints the mind creates. _Now for the cherry on top of the cake._ "Outrage!"

Shawn's eyes widened in fear as Blitz roared and became even more amped up with draconic energy.

Outrage was basically a more powerful variation of Dragon Dance. It released even more of restraints on the user's muscles, but instead of increasing speed and strength, it focused more on strength.

"With all the power boosts he's getting, Blitz could probably beat the average fighting-type in arm wrestling. Shawn better watch out."

Justin was preparing his victory speech as he called out his last attack. "Dragon Rush!" Blitz released draconic energy and began charging at Gible before the energy transformed into the shape of a giant skeletal Dragon and impacted Gible. After the dust cleared, Gible was revealed, unconscious.

Shawn immediately began lamenting over not just taking the win when he had the chance. Justin, on the other hand, was talking with Blitz. "Hey, buddy. You did great!" Blitz cheered as him and Justin high-fived each other.

 _Azelf, do you have any idea what that was or where it came from?_

 _ **I don't, unfortunately. All I know is that hurt my mind just hearing it. It seems to have shown interest in you, helping you win your battle.**_

 _Does that count as cheating?_

 _ **I don't think so. It's wasn't very voluntary, after all.**_

 _Yeah, I guess you're right. I still want to know what helped me... another pressure is in the back of my mind._

 _ **Then perhaps it is not what helped you, but who.**_

 _I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I don't want some huge power helping me win my battles, especially friendly battles against my friends. I assume you'll know if something happens?_

 _ **Yes.**_

 _All right, then._

 **There you have it! I know it wasn't much for how long it took me, but there's a lot of story and some new characters being introduced into the mix in the next chapter! I decided to give them their own chapter after writing about two pages more here, so I had to adjust a bit at the end. However, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I will talk to you all later. Peace!**

 **-Justin**


	10. Chapter 10: Whirling Power

**Hey there, folks! It's the super Limit bros. Super show! This chapter's gonna be a lot of story, and there's gonna be something new on the table. Some of you might see it often, and therefore not like it, but it'll be very important in some of the later chapters. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

"Nice going, Shawn. You did great." They were standing in the Pokemon Center in Glazeburn, and had just found out they needed to stay in Glazeburn another day so the Pokemon Center could make sure that Blitz and Wartortle had no complications from evolution. They were both injured when they evolved, and the sudden change in body shape could have some permanent problems if not immediately looked at. It was pretty much for the best. While Justin understood this and was easily willing to stay the extra day, he was upset that Shawn couldn't have waited until they got to the next town.

"Shut up, Justin. I thought the beach would be a good location because I could get more of a feel on Gible's move pool and some tactics. I've got a question. What are they gonna do with the glass tornado?" Shawn thought of them glorifying it once the two of them became celebrity trainers.

"Oh, that thing? I had Poseidon knock it down. Figured it'd get in the way of other people on the beach. Anyway, what are you gonna do now? We've got the whole day."

Shawn got a little upset after hearing the tornado had been knocked down, but answered Justin's question regardless. "Well, I heard there's a pretty cool museum in this town, so I figured I'd take a nap, then check that out. How about you?"

Justin thought carefully. He'd known about the museum, but he'd also heard that there was a lab researching extinct Pokemon. "I heard about this place that specializes in extinct Pokemon. I might check it out."

Diana started thinking after hearing that. _I had been planning to get to know my friends today, but I think those plans just changed. I want to find out what this fossil thing is and if it's worth anything, money or otherwise. It could lead to some cool science stuff._ "I'll go with Justin to go to that lab. I want to see if they can help me with something."

"I guess I'll go with Shawn later, if it's all the same to you, anyway," Anthony said. He happened to enjoy history a lot more than the others. Shawn decided he could use a buddy on this trip. "I don't see why not."

"Then it's settled. Me and Diana will head over to that lab, then meet you back over here before the two of you head for the museum, then tell you what we found. Tomorrow you can tell us what you saw at the museum. Let's go, Diana." She nodded as they both started walking in the direction of the lab.

Shawn and Anthony both walked back into the Pokemon Center before heading up to their rooms. They were both gonna need a long nap if their brains were gonna remember anything they learned.

"Why'd you come with me, anyway? I don't remember you being a science buff." They were looking around the public viewing of the lab. Drawings, paintings, and sculptures of ancient Pokemon littered the place, while not much actual science work was being shown. The biggest pieces of information about these Pokemon came from little pamphlets. Justin and Diana each picked up a pamphlet and turned through the pages. _Armaldo, huh? Doesn't look to majestic, but I'd bet him to be a tough customer against some of the better gym leader's Pokemon._

 _ **It amuses me, sometimes.**_

Justin flinched in surprise. _You're the voice from that battle! I want answers. Who are you, and why did you help me?_

 _ **Are you complaining over your victory?**_

 _As a matter of fact, I am. That was a battle completely for fun. I'd rather take a loss than use some crazy power on my friends. I wouldn't mind if it had been against people like Team Hurricane. They deserve everything they get._

 _ **Yes. These Team Hurricane people are indeed your definition of evil. However, I will not help you in your toughest battles, for those are the ones that make you grow the most.**_

 _Whatever. Look, who are you? Just tell me at least that for now._

 _ **I will tell you this much. I am a legend, more powerful than your little friend Azelf. You will fear me, or otherwise perish. Unless I am commanded by my partner to spare you, you will be dust in the wind.**_

 _I appreciate you being polite about it. If you're gonna just eliminate me, why help me in the first place?_

 _ **Because I haven't decided yet whether I should eliminate you or not. Your friend speaks to you now. I will go.**_

 _Talk to you later then, prick._ Justin waited a second for a retort. _Guess he didn't hear me._

"Justin, are you even listening to me?" Justin snapped out of his stupor and looked at Diana, who was looking at him, clearly annoyed.

"No, I'm sorry. I just spaced out for a sec. What were you saying?"

"Well, I was asking if you wanted me to show or tell you the reason I'm here." She smiled as Justin became suddenly intrigued.

"Oh, really? Why don't you show me? I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem," he said. With that, Diana pulled the fossil out of her bag.

"I found this on the beach. After looking through the pamphlet, I found out it was a Cranidos. This facility has some sort of machine that can bring back ancient Pokemon. I wanted to see if they could do it for this thing, too. It'd get me a new friend and be a cool science experience." Justin was contemplating the safety of Cranidos. _I don't know about this. Cranidos are very aggressive and constantly butt heads with those around them, both figuratively and literally._

"You sure you wanna do that? I'm not sure Cranidos would get along too well with the more passive Spinarak, not to mention that overly prideful Piplup."

"I think you're just jealous of my luck finding this fossil on the beach." Justin got a bit agitated at that comment.

"I'm not jealous! I'm trying to look out for you. Glad to know my friend takes my input so seriously." Diana bit her lip as she heard that.

"I didn't mean that. I understand you're trying to help me, but I'll be fine. Besides, if worse circumstances go to the worst possible circumstances, I have a friend who can easily help me out."

Justin immediately knew who she meant. _Mesprit. Hey Azelf, can Mesprit help her with Cranidos?_

 _ **Of course. We're legendary psychics. That's what we do. We help people... most of us. I trust you're fine with her following through on this?**_

 _I am now. Thanks, Azelf._

 _ **No problem.**_

"All right, you win. Have fun. I'm gonna see if I can find anything else interesting around here."

"All right."

Justin began walking around, looking back and forth at everything in the room. Suddenly, he bumped into someone frantically running around the place. As Justin rubbed his head, he held his hand out to pull up the boy he'd knocked down. He looked to be about sixteen, with a lab coat covering a buttoned down shirt and format pants. _Well, the guy's certainly more formal than me. I've got a purple t-shirt and some jeans on._ "Are you okay? I'm so sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going."

The boy took his hand and rubbed his head as well as he stood up. "It's all right. I shouldn't have been running so fast myself anyway. I'm Dante. Nice to meet you."

"My name's Justin. Why were you running around like that, anyway? You seemed like you were looking for something or someone."

"Oh, yes! I completely forgot about it. I'm looking for my Ivysaur. I can't find him anywhere. Think you could help me out?" Justin's first thoughts went to the fact that a scientist (at least he thought) couldn't figure out the easiest way of getting his Pokemon back. "I've got an idea for you. Do you have its Pokeball?"

"Of course I do. It's right here, see? Why do yo- of course! I can just recall Ivysaur into the Pokeball! Thank you so much! I tend to have trouble with common sense. Simple things like getting separated from my Pokemon in an enclosed space get me every time."

Justin could understand where he was coming from. There were quite a few times during the last week alone that his brain just got stranded and he couldn't get it going, like when they were lost and Diana had to remind him Zeus knew his way around the place. _That was right before I met up with you, Azelf._

 _ **So we only met up, as you say, because your friend reminded you that you had a Pikachu.**_

 _Pretty much. I guess it's a streak of luck that I can make really dumb decisions. I just hope I don't do it at the wrong time._

 _ **Your new acquaintance is speaking, so I will be quiet.**_

"Thanks again. I really need to keep cool if something like that happens again." He released his Ivysaur. It looked to be extremely healthy and well taken care of, and was happy to see the face of its friend. "Hey buddy," Dante said, "I'm sorry about that. We just got split up for a second. Luckily, Justin here reminded me that I could recall you into your Pokeball." Ivysaur turned to Justin and nodded a thank you.

"I was happy to help. Hey, what kind of research do you do here? I heard things about reviving extinct Pokemon, but I don't see anything that could do that. Why is this place being so secretive?"

Dante gasped when he saw the Pokeballs on Justin's belt. "You're a trainer, right?"

Justin was starting to get suspicious of this guy. "Yes, but why does that matter?"

"I can tell you the real story. Maybe you can help us. In return, we can offer our revival services for free to you and your friends."

"Go ahead, then. What's going on here?"

"You see, we have been taken over. Recently, some guys in dumb-looking outfits with symbols on them came in and declared the place theirs late at night. They forbade us from reviving the ancient Pokemon of civilians and are forcing us to use our technology to try and create a machine that, instead of reversing time, can travel through it."

"What were the symbols on them like?" If Justin's hunch was right, then Team Hurricane was behind all of this. _If they get their hands on a time machine, they could fulfill all of their goals through trial and error on the battlefield. The entire region could be thrown into chaos._

 _ **Unless you and Diana put a stop to it.**_

 _Exactly. I can't allow this to happen. I don't have time to go find her. Can you link the two of us mentally?_

 _ **Of course.**_ _ **Speak now.**_

 _Diana, it's Justin. Azelf's having us talk telepathically. I'm on the other side of the room. One of the scientists here is in trouble._

 _Okay._ _I'm on my way._

"The symbols looked like a swirl. They had outfits that make them look like Saturday morning cartoon villains. It was pretty funny, but they're not people you'd want to mess with."

"Don't worry, Dante. My friend is on the way, then we'll help take back this place."

"Really? Oh, thank you so much, really! It's been horrible forcing myself to work for those guys, then lie about it. I'm not a liar at all."

"Well, it's okay. We'll help you out." Diana walked up to Justin.

"So, what's the problem? I was looking at some of the fossils on display here."

"Team Hurricane has taken over this place. We're gonna help Dante here take it back. Speaking of which, this is Dante." Diana simply nodded at Dante. Right now was no time to play meet and greet. _If Team Hurricane really has taken over this place,_ she thought, _then we need to get rid of them as soon as possible. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a horde of savage ancient Pokemon allied with Team Hurricane._

"Okay. Now that you two have met, let's discuss how we're going to do this. I was thinking we cause a distraction inside. Then, while Team Hurricane's distracted, we move in and take out the head of operations here. With their leader under us, they'll have no choice but to surrender and leave."

"That's a stupid plan. We can't afford the risk of them catching on to us and then wrecking the technology here. That's our real top priority. I say we go in, guns blazing. If we take down all of them, then we can take on their head without reinforcements. He won't have any backup."

Diana made a good point. Justin released Zeus, then told him what was going on. "Zeus can be the tiebreaker. What do you think, Zeus? Should we try the distraction or go loud?" Zeus let electricity spark in his cheeks as he put on a confident smile. "Loud it is, then. All right, Dante, where are they?"

"The door to their base of operations here is behind the bronze Aerodactyl back there." Justin whistled, impressed by Aerodactyl. It looked to be one of the most powerful flyers he'd ever meet, if he managed to meet one. "I never noticed that. That looks like it'd be an awesome Pokemon to have on your team. All right. Let's go, Diana. We've got to do this quickly."

"Right!"

Shawn woke up, tired still, but he knew he had no chance of getting back to sleep. He heard a knock on his door. _Anthony's awake too? I find that hard to believe._ "Who is it?" The deep voice he heard made him snap into awareness. "Hey, kid! I've got a present for you."

 _No way. Darius? What's he doing knocking on my door? I guess I'll see when I open it._ Shawn opened the door to see Gastly staring him dead in the face. "Whoa!" As Shawn caught his breath, Darius began laughing. "Don't do that. Also, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at your gym?"

"They make all gym leaders take at least a one week vacation once per year. I'm here because it was forced. As for why I'm here, Gastly took a real liking to you after our battle. I thought maybe you two would make a good team."

"So, let me get this straight. You're giving me one of your Pokemon."

"Yes. I already transferred the ownership to you," he said as he tossed him the Pokeball, "so have fun."

"You didn't even consider my response? I mean, I'm definitely going to take it, but why didn't you stop and think about whether I would have taken it or not?"

"Because, kid, I knew you'd take it. No newbie in their right mind would decline."

"Wait a minute. I battled Litwick, not Gastly! How does Gastly know anything about me?"

"After I used confuse Ray, I released Gastly, who was watching us from behind. He apparently thinks highly of you and your Squirtle."

"Wartortle. He's a Wartortle now."

"Either way, he's usually a joker, but he was sincere in his interest in you. I don't know what it is."

"Well, I guess I'm just that good."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. If I were to battle you with my real team, you wouldn't stand a chance. This is a blessing. Since Gastly respects you, it'll listen to you. Most ghost type Pokemon tend to be rebellious or disagreeable, like dark types. However, Gastly will listen and won't try to betray you in any way."

"Nice to know. Aren't Gastly born tricksters, though? How can you be sure?" Gastly manifested himself in front of Shawn's face, and he honestly was really frightened by it.

"Tricksters, yes. But that doesn't mean that when it comes down to it, it won't listen to you."

"Okay, then. Welcome to the team, Gastly." Gastly nodded his head in a silly recreation of a fancy party guest. Shawn scanned Gastly with his Pokedex.

 _Gastly, the gas Pokemon. Male. While it is fragile due to being made of gas, it can expand and suffocate an opponent of any size. This Gastly knows the moves Sludge Bomb, Astonish, Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Destiny Bond, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, and Nightmare. It has a Timid Nature, and prefers sweet foods over spicy ones._

"Nice, Gastly! You are a trickster, aren't you?" _Though I suppose I couldn't expect anything less from a Pokemon that was previously owned by a ghost type specialist._

"I hope you enjoy your gift, kid. Where's your friend with the Turtwig? I didn't get a chance to give him material badge. It's always a good thing to have it, even if it's registered that you won in your trainer ID."

"You did give him the badge."

Darius frowned slightly, then his lips curled into a slight smile. "So, you do pay attention to your friends. That's a good thing. I wanted to make sure of that. Listen, kid. Never forget that your friends are more important than any one of your enemies. A friend in need should always take priority. I didn't know that when I was your age, and suffice it to say... It cost me." Darius' expression turned to one of depression as he apparently recalled whatever happened.

"Don't worry, Darius. I won't forget that."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd better get back to Champagne," he said, "for my people need me! Haha!"

Shawn nodded and gave him a thumbs up as he left. _I'm not letting Anthony get any more sleep. If I'm gonna be awake, I'm bringing him with me._ He knocked on the door. "Anthony, get up! We're gonna meet those two now."

Anthony opened his door, clearly annoyed. "Why? I thought we'd sleep a big more. Wasn't that the plan?"

"Yes, but I was woken up by Darius. He gave me his Gastly. I figured we might as well meet them now."

"First of all, you probably just woke me up because you didn't want me to have the privilege of sleep." Shawn looked away indignantly. "Second, why did he give you his Gastly?"

"It's a long story that I'll tell when we've met up with Justin and Diana. For now, let's go to that lab they went to." Anthony nodded as Shawn started walking.

"Shawn, why didn't you ask where the place was?"

"Men never ask for directions."

"You're not a man. You're thirteen years old."

"Shut up, Anthony. If it's so easy, why don't you find it?" Anthony and Shawn heard an explosion in the distance.

"Shawn, I think that'll have to wait. We should investigate this first and see if there's any way we can help." Shawn nodded. "Right. Sorry guys, but we're gonna be a bit late."

"Actually, wait. Shawn, you go back to the Pokemon Center and find out how to get to that lab. I'll go investigate this myself."

"How am I supposed to find you again?"

"Think, Shawn," he said as he pointed to the smoke above the building.

"Oh. Right. Okay then, let's go!"

"Geez, Justin. Be louder, why don't you? I'm sure we won't be discovered. It's also not like I was right next to the explosion or anything!" Justin had just had Zeus use thunderbolts to take out the security cameras, but Zeus put a little too much juice into the last one and caused it to explode.

"My apologies, fair maiden. Can I get you some earplugs?" He asked sarcastically. Diana just frowned upon him and kept walking. _Girls. Impossible to understand._

 _ **I know how you feel, Justin. Mesprit and I have very similar arguments.**_

 _I'd better get going. I'd hate the Empress to lose her cool again._

 _ **Right.**_

As they continued, they ran into more and more resistance. However it was nothing they couldn't handle. Dante was also jumping in to help, and proved to be a decently skilled battler with Ivysaur. _This is starting to get on my nerves. They just keep coming._

They eventually reached the experimentation room. Justin was horrified when they saw them chaining a Pokemon to some sort of machine. As a scientist pulled a lever, the blue dog-like Pokemon started glowing before it was transported to a nearby dome, being encased within. It struggled to get out, and was smart enough to concentrate its extremely graceful punches and kicks on one location. However, the extremely reinforced glass was too strong. _A Riolu? Awesome! I've got to have him on my team. Not only is he really smart, but being a fighting type, he has extremely powerful muscles. Plus, he's proficient in energy attacks, for a fighting type, and can do all kinds of things with its aura power. He can even use a bit of psychic power, even though he's not a psychic type. There's no way I'm passing this up._

Diana looked at Justin's increasingly childish grin with dismay. _We have to take down their leader right now. I'll admit that Riolu is a powerful Pokemon, but he can't seriously be thinking of catching it right? Right? Oh, who am I kidding. He's gonna do it._ "Justin," she whispered, "Are you thinking of what I believe you're thinking?" Justin nodded. "Are you sure about this? We've still got a chance to-" was all she got to say as Zeus overheard and shot a bolt of electricity at the console controlling the case around Riolu. "-lay low," she finished. _Hey, uh, Mesprit? Are you there?_

 _ **Of course I am. We have a psychic link. What is it?**_

 _Is there a way you can help Justin catch that Riolu?_

 _ **Yes, but why would you want that?**_

Diana took a second to cover Ivysaur from a toxic before answering. _He completely messed up our stealth. I don't want it to have been for nothing._

 _ **Any other reason?**_

 _N-no,why?_

 _ **Are you sure?**_

 _Yes, Mesprit. I'm sure._

 _ **Okay then, I suppose the fact that you're nervous because of our conversation and not the fight you're involved in is my imagination.**_

 _I'm not nervous!_

 _ **Yes you are,**_ Mesprit responded, giggling like a little girl.

 _So what if I am nervous? Ever consider it_ is _because of the battle going on?_

 _ **Young Diana, you're speaking through a psychic link that, if powerful enough, can carry over your emotions, to the Being of Emotion. I think I can tell what your emotions are and why you have them.**_

 _I'm gonna focus on the battle now._ Diana returned her main focus to the three grunts in front of her. "Hydro Pump!" Piplup blasted two of the Houndour before it, but a quick reaction from a Golbat let it dodge the attack. _This is getting too hectic for just one Pokemon._ As Diana reached for Spinarak's Pokeball, the Golbat rushed her and smacked her head on with its wing. She barely had time to put up her arm and stop it from reaching her face, but she was still sent flying. Even a newborn Zubat had more resistance to a Golbat's wing than a human. She felt the wing easily cut through her arm. _I should be thankful that it swung its wing at me instead of slicing my arm off. A cut, no matter how big, is better than an involuntary amputation of my arm._

Justin threw his Pokeball and caught the unconscious Riolu, then turned and saw what happened and immediately ran over to Diana. "Diana! Are you okay? Actually, that's a dumb question. I've got to get you out of here." Diana stopped him from lifting her up.

"Justin, that Golbat hit my arm. I can walk. You and Dante have to keep going. We're not that far in. Lucky me, I suppose."

Justin took a moment before saying, "Okay then. Get out of here, and we'll keep going."

As Diana started walking back, Justin turned and looked at the Golbat that had injured Diana. _Now, I'm mad. Nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it._ "Zeus!" Zeus ran over to Justin. "Thunderbolt." Zeus blasted the Golbat with a massive amount of electricity and sent I plummeting to the ground. "Nightcrawler! Come here!" Nightcrawler rolled over to Justin and uncurled itself from his ball. "I've got an idea for the two of you. It's a combo attack, one that should help you guys take care of more powerful opponents." Justin knew this probably wasn't the best time for a lesson, but he just thought it up, and to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what they'd run in to as they kept going. Nightcrawler and Zeus came over to Justin. "Okay, here's what you're gonna do..."

"Hello," Shawn said as he walked up to the clerk at the Pokemon Center.

She responded cheerfully. "Hello! You're the boy who came in about a Wartortle, right?"

"Yes. Why? is there something wrong with him?"

"No, it's quite the opposite! He's perfectly healthy. Your friend's Charmeleon is now as well. Where is he?"

"That's actually why I'm here. He went to the lab researching extinct Pokemon, and I'm supposed to meet up with him, but I don't know where the lab is. I was gonna ask for directions."

She seemed surprised. "Oh, really? Okay. It's... walk two blocks right after leaving, then turn left and it should be right down that block. Here's your Wartortle."

"Thanks for everything. Oh, I had an idea. Could I bring my friend his Charmeleon?"

"Well, I don't see why not." She handed him Blitz's Pokeball.

"Okay. Thanks again!" Shawn ran out of the Pokemon Center.

 _Okay. Time to go find the others_.

 _This was not what I had expected._ Anthony arrived at the lab, which was going up in flames. _If I had known that the lab was the building on fire, I wouldn't have told Shawn to go back. I've got to get a hold of the situation. First things first, where are Justin and Diana?_ He looked around the crowd of people, but they were nowhere to be found. _That's weird. Where are they.?_ Then, he saw Diana walking through the entrance. He immediately ran over to her. "Are you okay? What happened, a-and where's Justin?"

Diana took a deep breath before responding. "Justin and I got into a battle with Team Hurricane again. They took this place over. A Golbat rushed me and made this cut on my arm. I managed to walk back here, but I'm gonna pass out any second. I can't walk any further."

"It's okay. I'll walk you to a hospital. Where are the medical people here? It's a burning building, you'd think that they'd know people will get hurt." Anthony looked around and saw Shawn running towards them with an extra Pokeball on his belt.

"Guys, what happened?"

"Justin and Diana were fighting Team Hurricane and a Golbat cut Diana's arm. She walked back here, but she needs medical attention. I'm going to take her to a hospital. You need to get in there and help Justin. Much as I hate to admit it, you're a stronger trainer than me. Walking someone to a hospital doesn't require as much battling as fighting Team Hurricane."

"All right. I've got it covered."

"What's with the bonus ball?"

"It's Blitz. He's healthy and I was gonna bring his Pokeball to Justin."

"All right. Hurry up." Shawn gave him a thumbs up as he ran into the building.

Justin couldn't believe it. _How many grunts are here? It's like a zombie horde._ Zeus zapped a Scraggy as Nightcrawler bowling balled three Rattata. He looked to his right to see Ivysaur violently slamming two Zubat into the ground with its vines. _We won't last much longer._ Ivysaur threw the Zubat into two Houndour and knocked them out. Justin looked around and saw no other Pokemon besides their own. _Looks like we got them all. Strange. Thought there were more, not that I'm complaining._

Just as he thought this, someone moved the grunts out of the way. They had the same pallet swap outfit as Andre on, except it was modified for the fact that the wearer was a woman. She had black hair with Light Blue highlights and didn't appear to be wearing makeup. Altogether, Justin thought the woman was rather pretty, but this wasn't the time for that.

"So the two of you managed to take out all of my men. I'm impressed."

One of the grunts wanted to redeem them, even if only for a little bit. "There was another one, with a Piplup. My Golbat socked it to her."

"What do you mean by that? Did you hurt her?" Justin responded this time. "Yes. That Golbat cut her arm badly."

The newcomer turned to Justin with a solemn expression on her face. "I feel I must sincerely apologize for the behavior of my men. I'm not the kind of person that would warrant hurting trainers. I prefer helping over hurting. By the way, I am Jona."

"If you prefer helping, why are you with these guys?"

"You see, I'm here to restore this world to its former glory. This world has become nothing more than a useless pile of junk. People argue and hate each other. It's all I see. Do you know what lies at the root of the problem? Trainers. Their battling for titles and fame creates conflicts. The people governing the trainers are elected through power, a barbaric trait that develops hatred and anger in those who are more qualified leaders than they could ever be. The champion of this region is little older than you. Strength and enthusiasm are indeed good things for a leader to have, but without the wisdom and experience to know how to properly use that strength, it's entirely useless. That's why I chose to join Team Hurricane. If we can acquire the technology necessary for time travel, we can stop Pokeballs from ever being invented. Trainers will never be, and the hatred can end. Does not that not sound amazing?

Dante responded first. "No, that sounds psychotic. Do you have any idea what could happen if you make such a drastic change in the timeline? The damage could be irreversible!"

Jona became angry. "You would mock my plan and my ideas! You're lucky I don't hurt trainers, else you'd be dead. Let's see if your ideals match up to mine. We'll see who wants their future more!" At this, she released a small, dog-like Pokemon. It was mostly light blue, but its feet were a darker shade of blue that gave the impression of boots. "This is Glaceon. Let's see you defeat her!"

"Wait," Justin said. "I'm not stupid. Glaceon is an ice type. That's a pretty big advantage. If you really think that your ideals are better, then take us both on. It'll be one of each of our Pokemon against Glaceon. Deal?"

Jona looked thoughtful. "Perhaps. But only with the knowledge that when I defeat you, you will join us in our mission to change history."

 _Join Team Hurricane? If that's not motivation to win, I don't know what is._

 _ **Justin, keep in mind that if you are defeated and would be forced to join them, I would kill you on the spot. It wouldn't even take that much effort. Merely a thought.**_

 _I wouldn't have it any other way._

 _ **Excuse me?**_

 _I mean that I'd rather be dead than have to serve these morons. Not that that'd ever happen._

 _ **So you aren't really going into this worried about the fact that I'll kill you if you lose?**_

 _Not really. Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I have a battle to finish._ Justin beckoned to Zeus and Nightcrawler. " Zeus, I'm recalling you. I'm starting off with Nightcrawler." Zeus looked ready to complain, but Justin silenced him. "I've got a plan. You need to be after Nightcrawler for it to work. No arguing." He recalled Zeus. "Nightcrawler, your main role here is gonna be to constantly attack. We need to figure out what Glaceon's made of and you can help Ivysaur. He needs to stay at a distance and you can distract Glaceon. Got it?" Nightcrawler nodded and prepared himself for battle.

"I suppose I'll start us off. Blizzard!" Glaceon blew a massive blast of icy air at Ivysaur, who already seemed to have no chance of survival.

"Nightcrawler, get Ivysaur out of there!" Nightcrawler curled into his ball and slammed into Ivysaur, pushing him to the side and out of the way of the Blizzard. "Loop back around and get Glaceon!" Nightcrawler spun right back around and took off, faster than the average car, towards the recovering Glaceon, who couldn't dodge the attack. Glaceon was sent flying into the air.

"Vine Whip, Ivysaur!" Ivysaur lashed its vines out, wrapped them around Glaceon, and brutally slammed her into the ground.

Or at least, they would have, if Glaceon hadn't forced herself free and rushed at Ivysaur, shooting off another Blizzard as soon as she was within range. This time. Ivysaur got hit, and succumbed to the cold.

Dante recalled Ivysaur with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry, my friend. We couldn't stop them." He looked at Justin, panic clear in his eyes. "Justin, this is up to you. If you don't defeat her, then Team Hurricane will escape with that technology, and our entire existence is finished."

"Don't worry, Dante. I'm not sure exactly how, but I'll beat her. Count on it." He turned towards Jona and Glaceon. "Now then, where were we?" Justin released Zeus. " Zeus will substitute for Dante's Pokemon, since he doesn't have any more. Okay?"

"Do as you wish. It's not like anything will work."

"Hey, Zeus. You too, Nightcrawler. Huddle up, we're gonna make a play."

"Justin's absolutely nuts. Continuing on with an attack on an entire base alone? He's got guts, all right. I just hope they're not scattered everywhere by the time I get there. Just how far did he go?" Shawn walked over to the only conscious member of Team Hurricane, not exactly happy. "Hey, you. Did a kid in a purple t-shirt come by here? Had a Pikachu? Annoyingly unattractive?"

The grunt, who just so happened to be a woman, answered. "I'm not sure. Take out the unattractive bit and you've got your guy. Although, after a Golbat owned by one of my associates cut his girlfriend's arm, he was like an absolute monster, completely indestructible. It was crazy. Don't get that kid angry."

"Which way did he go?" Shawn was honestly tired of hearing the woman's rant. _And Justin with Diana in that way? Preposterous! I'm pretty sure that word means impossible. Mostly sure, anyway._

"He went left, towards the laboratory. Him and some guy with an Ivysaur."

"Good. Thanks, I guess." _Now that I'm done here, it's time to find Justin._

 _ **Perhaps I can help you with that.**_

 _Whoa! What was that? Who's there?_

 _ **I am Azelf, being of willpower. I wish to help you. It is in both of our interests.**_

 _And then we can team up against Team Hurricane and beat them into next week, right?_

 _ **I am afraid not. I have already forged a psychic bond with someone.**_

 _Wait. Don't tell me._

 _ **Justin, yes. That's why it's in my best interest to save him. Don't you have a brain?**_

 _Alright, so how do I do it? How do I help Justin?_

 _ **I will guide you to him. Then, you can give him Blitz and fight against Team Hurricane together. Any questions?**_

 _No, sir. Lead the way._

 _ **Very well.**_

"Now, guys!" Nightcrawler had just knocked Glaceon into the air.

Zeus leapt into action, firing a thunderbolt at Glaceon. Nightcrawler then rammed directly into the electrified Glaceon, Causing a disruption and making the electricity more violent. Glaceon started falling towards the ground, only for Zeus and Nightcrawler to be running towards her with Volt Tackle and Rollout, respectively. The collision's brute force, combined with the added electricity from Volt Tackle, caused a huge explosion, and Nightcrawler and Zeus were running away from it on opposite sides of Glaceon, who was revealed unconscious.

Justin had a large grin on his face, even as the exhausted Zeus and Nightcrawler ran over to him. He hadn't expected his plan to work so easily.

Jona recalled Glaceon, looking more annoyed than angry. "Do you seriously think that an executive of Team Hurricane only carries one Pokemon?"

"For a second there, I kinda did."

"Well then, you're sadly mistaken."

 _Oh, man_ , Justin thought as she released a massive beast. It was covered in thick, brown fur and had tusks that put the horn of a Rhyperior to shame. Its eyes were nothing like Glaceon. They looked cold and heartless.

The Mamoswine rose up to its full height, trumping Poseidon with his neck fully stretched.

 _What am I gonna do? Nightcrawler is exhausted, Poseidon has almost nothing effective against Mamoswine, and Zeus' electricity is totally useless._ Justin just bit his lip in fear. "Guys." Zeus and Nightcrawler turned to him. "This isn't an opponent we can beat. We've got two options. Surrender and hope for the best, or fight and pray for the best. You guys are exhausted. Let me recall you."

Nightcrawler shook his head as he knocked his Pokeball out of Justin's hands. Nightcrawler owed his rollout, one of his greatest abilities, to Justin. If there was ever a time to say thank you. It was now.

Justin watched as Nightcrawler became enveloped in blinding white light. His entire body structure immediately changed. Not only did he turn into more of a wheel than an insect, he developed spikes across his circular form. Justin knew they would be covered in poison. Nightcrawler was revealed to be a Whirlipede, and his yellow eyes shone with happiness at his evolution.

"Nightcrawler...". Justin was amazed at Nightcrawler's new form. He corrected himself. _Not impressed time. Big battle time._ "Zeus, I'm recalling you. I don't think there's a very high chance of you evolving. It'd be safer for you to sit this one out." Justin recalled Zeus, then sent out Poseidon. "Poseidon! We're in a tough battle. Up for the challenge against a Mamoswine?" Poseidon nodded. "All right then, guys. Let's do this!"

Poseidon rose to his full height, though he was trumped by Mamoswine. "Water Pulse!" Poseidon formed a ball of dense water before launching it at Mamoswine. Mamoswine barely seemed affected. _That's not good._ "Nightcrawler, rollout." Nightcrawler took off, faster than ever before. _That's hard to keep up with._ Nightcrawler rammed Mamoswine multiple times, although only the last one dented Mamoswine in the slightest.

"Blizzard, Mamoswine." Jona looked angry at Justin. _Probably because I just beat her Glaceon, which looks to be her favorite Pokemon._

 _ **Indeed. Justin, if you survive a few minutes longer, you've got reinforcements.**_

 _Please don't tell me it's Shawn._

 _ **It's Shawn.**_

 _Damnit._

Mamoswine released a gust of icy wind that put Glaceon's to shame. Nightcrawler was sent flying backwards, though Poseidon barely seemed affected.

"Stone edge. Eliminate the Lapras first." Mamoswine nodded, and Justin could almost swear he saw a maniacal grin. Mamoswine stomped the ground, and a stone pillar reached from the ground and basically uppercut Poseidon. Poseidon was sent flying, and landed unconscious.

 _Time to review my situation. Zeus is too exhausted to fight, Poseidon just got slapped in the face, and Nightcrawler can barely do anything. Also, if I lose, I have to join Team Hurricane. I could think of worse situations to be in. Not many, but a couple._

 _ **Correction. If you lose, I kill you.**_

 _So encouraging. Always great to know you're trying to help. Why can't you battle again?_

 _ **Would I truly be helping you if I didn't believe you could pull this off?**_

 _I don't know. You're a legend. I barely know anything about you._

 _ **In that case, let me tell you my life story. I was created-**_

 _Not now, Azelf. Later._

 _ **I thought you wanted to hear more about me.**_

 _Not now, sir._

"Nightcrawler. I know this doesn't seem hopeful, but I need to ask you to keep battling. If we don't win this, it's over. Even if it takes a miracle, I believe in you to do us all a favor and help whoop this Mamoswine into next year. You ready?" Nightcrawler nodded and turned to Mamoswine, ready on Justin's command.

"Full speed and power, Rollout!" Nightcrawler took off and started slamming Mamoswine in the face with its entire body again.

Jona looked surprised. "Lousy kids these days don't know when to give up..." she mumbled. "Blizzard, Mamoswine! End this foolishness!"

"Nightcrawler, you've got to dodge!" He proceeded to roll away as fast as he could, narrowly escaping the Blizzard. "Hit him again!"

A cycle began. Nightcrawler would attack Mamoswine a few times before being forced to move and dodge a Blizzard. Justin could see Mamoswine beginning to tire out, but he knew that if Mamoswine was getting tired, then Nightcrawler had to be absolutely exhausted.

 _He's not gonna be able to keep this up much longer. I can't believe my brain is thinking this, but I could really use some help from Shawn right about now._

 _ **By the way, Justin, you two are mentally linked.**_

 _You.. freaking... prick._

 _Hey, Justin. I'm almost there._

 _You'd better hurry, because I'm gonna need a miracle in a second._

Justin just had Nightcrawler keep up what he was doing. Jona was getting very annoyed with Nightcrawler's persistence. "I'm getting tired of this. You should give up now."

"No way. I'm not giving up on Nightcrawler. He can do this." _Shawn, miracle. Now._

 _Almost there. Hang on just a little longer._

Nightcrawler started slowing down. Justin bit his lip as Mamoswine blasted Nightcrawler. He smashed into the wall and didn't get up.

"Well, brat, I must commemorate you on your effort. You did try your best. However, it's over. I see you have no Pokemon left. What miracle could save you now? Nothing. You have-" She was stopped short by Shawn, who ran into the room and threw Justin Blitz's Pokeball.

"Who here needed a miracle?"

Justin caught the Pokeball in his hand. "Jona, this isn't over yet. Hey Shawn, little help here?"

Shawn ran over to Justin and released Wartortle as Justin released Blitz.

 _You know Shawn, this mind link stuff is gonna make it really easy to strategize. We won't need to speak to each other. We just think._

 _Yeah, it's pretty cool._

 _ **After this battle, I'm actually going to unlink you.**_

 _Oh. Okay then. Guess we'll have to enjoy it while we can. Shawn, you blast Mamoswine on the right with Water Spout. I'm gonna use Flamethrower on his left._

 _This had better work._

Jona was enraged at Shawn's sudden appearance. "How dare you! I defeat this boy in battle, and here you come ruining my victory!"

Justin smirked. "Sorry Jona, but it's our victory now. Blitz and Wartortle are gonna whoop you. Blitz, Flamethrower on Mamoswine's left!"

"Wartortle, Water Spout on his right!" Blitz and Wartortle began blasting Mamoswine with everything they had. The fur across Mamoswine's body was constantly trying to adjust to the temperature. If it adjusted to the heat of Flamethrower, it suffered the cold of Water Spout. If it heated up to take Water Spout, it took damage from Flamethrower. After about a minute, Mamoswine passed out from the pummeling given to it.

"No. That's impossible. How could Glaceon and Mamoswine both be defeated by kids?"

"It's because we're fighting for the right reasons, Jona. You can, too. Help take down Team Hurricane, and you'll find the power to win." Justin held out his hand.

Jona turned around. "I will leave Team Hurricane, but I will find a way to end the hatred alone."

"At least come with us. We know where the exit is."

"I know another way. However, don't forget this. You have helped me make a great realization today. For that. I am forever thankful." Jona walked away.

The grunts looked confused. "Did we just lose an executive?"

"Yes, you did. Now, get out of here." The grunts walked away.

"Shawn, I just wanted to say thank you. Without your help, I'd be screwed. Let's get out of here. We've got to get back to Anthony and- oh no, I completely forgot about Diana! We've got to see how she's doing!"

"Agreed. Let's go Justin. Also, you're welcome."

 _ **You're lucky. If Shawn wasn't such a good friend to you, you'd be dead. It's a good thing, to have friends.**_

 _I know, Azelf._

 _I really am the best, aren't I?_

 _Azelf, can you please unlink our minds?_

 **I know you guys waited a really long time, and I really am sorry. I've been absolutely consumed by school and my buddies Shawn and Anthony in real life. I hope you enjoyed. Something exciting might be happening in the next chapter, so stay tuned!**

 **\- Justin**


	11. Chapter 11: Red Dead Mentality

**Hey, guys! It's me again, back with more Excel the Limit! I know, I know. Where have I been? To be honest, I don't really have an excuse for why it's been so long. Life's been pretty easy on me. But the important thing is that I've got something, right? Without further ado, here we go!**

 _ **Wake up, please. I've been calling you for the last twenty minutes.**_

Diana awoke with a start. _What happened? Why am I in a hospital bed? Wait. Team Hurricane's base. Justin!_

 _ **Justin is fine, Diana. He and Shawn fought them off. Speaking of...**_

"Looks like you're finally awake." Justin and a doctor walked into the room. The doctor immediately began writing something down. "You've been asleep for four days."

Diana freaked out. "Four days?!" Justin started laughing. "Nah, it's only been a couple of hours."

Diana looked at him sternly. "Really? You had to?"

"Yup. I just told Shawn and Anthony. They went to get food and I told them to pick you up something."

"So what happened after I left?"

"After me and Dante took down all of the grunts, one of the higher-ups came in to deal with us. She almost beat me, but Shawn came in and gave me Blitz's Pokeball. Then, Blitz and Wartortle fought her off. She seemed like she really thought Team Hurricane was doing the right thing, but after we beat her she changed her mind."

"When did Shawn get there?"

"Apparently, a little while after you passed out", Justin said. "He says that he found Anthony about to bring you to the hospital."

"Oh. Figures he'd show up. He never could keep himself out of trouble."

"Yeah, but the difference is this time, it saved me," Justin said with a smile, before his expression hardened a bit. "Look, I wanted to apologize. You got hurt because of me. I was too excited about the prospect of catching Riolu to think of the consequences. It's my fault. I should have just kept going the stealth route with you, and you suffered for it. I-"

"Justin, stop it," Diana said. "Sure you messed up. Anyone can see that. But you can't beat yourself up over it. Nobody's perfect, and everything is all right now. Plus, you looked really petty and... sad. It's strange seeing you anything but happy, because that's all I've seen you as; the happy go lucky kid that never gives up and never gets serious unless his friends are involved. So stop being an idiot."

Justin smiled. "So, I'm an idiot, am I?"

"Justin, don't you dare bring that up-"

"What about the time when you decided to bring a burger to school on Vegan Day? Or when you spelled Pokemon wrong three times in one paragraph?"

"Ok, ok. You win. I've done some dumb things too," she said. They both burst out laughing, though neither one of them knew exactly why.

Shawn and Anthony walked into the room, with Anthony throwing a Pokeball up and down and Shawn barely keeping his balance between the bag in one hand and the pizza box in the other.

Justin looked at Anthony and shook his head. "Anthony, why didn't you carry anything?"

Anthony got an evil looking smile. "It was all Shawn's idea."

Shawn put the food down, then elbowed Anthony. "It was not. You know that."

Anthony's smile widened. "I don't know what you could possibly be talking about."

Shawn just sighed, not in the mood to argue. "So, who's hungry?"

"Who isn't?" Justin said.

Shawn laughed. "You make a fantastic point, sir."

XXXXX

 _ **Justin, wake up. You've got someone knocking.**_

 _It's just my friends. They can wait._

The knocking grew louder. "Police! Open the door. We need to ask you some questions."

 _Or maybe it's much worse. I'm gonna dodge their questions_. Justin walked to the door after barely getting up.

 _ **Justin, I highly recommend not doing that. Tell them what they want to know and they'll leave.**_

Justin opened the door, cutting his conversation short. "How can I help you?" The officer gave him an annoyed glare. "How can you help me? You can start by promising me that the next time an officer knocks, you'll open up a bit quicker. Next, I've got to ask you some questions about a fire at a fossil research laboratory yesterday. Were you involved in any way?"

"I guess you could say that. One of the scientists there asked us for help getting rid of Team Hurricane, since if the police came anywhere near them, they'd trash the place and leave. So, after sneaking around a bit, my friend and I discovered a Riolu being experimented on. I couldn't stand seeing the little guy trapped. So I had my Pikachu overload the system to free it. But the place started to go up in flames. I ended up catching the Riolu and fighting off Team Hurricane with my friends. But one of their upperclassmen, an executive, tried to stop me, and would have won if it hadn't been for my friends. After that I came to the hospital to see one of my friends, whose arm was cut by a Golbat." He decided to leave out the names of Dante, Diana, and Shawn. He wasn't sure if this officer was legit. The uniform seemed pretty good, but he had to be sure not to give away too much. He could be speaking with someone from Team Hurricane for all he knew.

The officer finished writing down what he had said, then stood up. "Thank you, that'll be-" she was cut off by her phone ringing.

"Hello? Yes, I just did. What? Why would he want to do that?" The whole time, Justin's childhood desire to be a police officer vanished more and more until he hated the idea of being on a police force of any kind. The officer kept going for twenty minutes before saying, "He's here already? Ugh, fine. Whatever." As she hung up the phone, she turned to Justin. "Sorry for this kid, but there's somebody else here who wants to see you about this. He's an... interesting guy."

"Sure, why not?"

The officer stared at Justin, questioning his sanity. Eventually he responded, "I've already been asked some questions today, let's make the list longer for today rather than shorter for another day."

The officer just shrugged as she walked out. Justin brushed his teeth and put on his t-shirt and jeans before sitting back on his bed. He decided that now might be a good time to release Riolu. He might not get a chance in the near future.

He tapped the release button and grabbed a revive from his bag as Riolu appeared. He poured the yellow powder into Riolu's mouth and Riolu awoke with a start.

Riolu looked up at Justin, seemingly remembering what happened, before bowing and putting his fist out in front of Justin. Justin put his fist with Riolu's before Riolu's eyes glowed a bright blue.

A new voice appeared in Justin's mind. _**Thank you. Those people were terrible, my mind was under more torment than my body from their horrible auras. But you are different. I sense a kind yet tenacious person within you.**_

 _That sounds like me. But how are you communicating with me?_

 _ **My kind are born with more potential for psychic powers than all other fighting type Pokemon combined. I was born more adept with these abilities than most of us. While most of my kind can communicate using their auras, I can communicate like this by simply touching somebody, like I am now.**_

 _I see. So have you got a name?_

 _ **Sort of. Before I was separated from my pack, I was called Voice by many of my family, even my mother.**_

 _Would you prefer that?_

 _ **No, it is not my name, but more a title, as I was the bridge with species who couldn't understand us, the Voice of the pack.**_

 _What if I called you Mentality?_

 _ **Mentality? That sounds nice.**_

 _Mentality it is, then._

 _ **I think somebody's here.**_

 _I'll have to see what moves you know later, then._

Justin opened his eyes and looked at the door. His eyes opened wider when he saw who was standing there.

The teen wore a jacket that seemed to be suited for combat even with its short sleeves. His hat that had come to be an icon throughout two regions sat forward. Justin noticed the sparkle of a stone on what looked like a watch and he could only think about meeting some of the Pokemon on his belt.

The teen opened his mouth to speak, but before he could begin Justin had but one word: "Red."

"Really? Where?" Red laughed as he closed the door behind him. It didn't sound like the boastful laugh of champion Lance or the Stony laugh of champion Steven he had heard so many times on the news. He sounded so much like Justin, yet so different. He couldn't understand why.

"So, Justin. You gave the officer before me a timeline of what happened, but it didn't seem very detailed. Is there any explanation?"

"I... I...". Justin couldn't stop stuttering. He was still in disbelief that Red, Champion of the Jiman region and former champion of the Kanto and Johto regions, was in his room at a Pokemon center. He quickly corrected himself, however. "I wasn't sure if she was legit. I kind of just ruined their plans and they could easily send someone dressed up as a police officer in to try and get information out of me."

Red nodded. "Very smart. Tell me, though. How does a kid like you fight off almost one hundred people, especially if one of them is an executive? That's why I'm here. Any rookie capable of doing that is very talented. What Pokemon do you have?"

"Whirlipede, Riolu, Lapras, Pikachu, and Charmeleon." Red's eyes seemed to glow at the last one.

"So, you too..."

Justin looked at Red, not sure why he was so deep about it. Or rather, depressed. Red looked thoughtful before smiling. "I've decided! Justin, I'd like to make you an offer. I think it fitting that after 12 years, I finally do this." He turned to Justin. "I'd like to make you my student. You have the champion's fire in your eyes, yet you have already lost one of the key elements that all of the champions share. I think that, with my help, you can get it back. Plus, I'd like to have my legacy be left on more than just the Pokedex archives. I want a person who can take the lessons I've learned and share them with another generation. I think it fitting that the one to do this would have his partner be the same as mine."

Justin just looked at him, unaware if the champion himself knew what he was asking.

""Where do I sign up?" Justin stopped for a moment to realize what leaving to train with Red would mean. He could become so much more powerful than other trainers. He could take the conference by storm. Those were the reasons he accepted so quickly. They were the pros of training with possibly the most powerful Pokemon Trainer he'd ever seen.

But when he thought about it, it had its fair share of downsides. Justin doubted Red would casually walk around major cities, so he assumed most of his time would be spent in the wilderness. He would probably train until Red thought he could head into their next gym stop, then train some more. He had no problem with nature, but he didn't like the idea of only having one human companion with him. Then there was probably the only thing putting him on the edge. He would be split up from his friends. Not his team, of course. They were constant friends, more like family. They would be with him all the way. But he would be leaving Shawn, Diana, and Anthony. Anthony was the first friend he made, when he moved to Oakgarb, Justin being three at the time. He didn't want to leave him. He wasn't always the happiest person, and leaving him would probably make things worse. And while he didn't say this as often as he should, he feared Anthony more as an opponent than he did Shawn. Shawn and him had been rivals in school, so it was fitting that their rivalry continue while training. But he felt Anthony was still a better trainer. He'd miss Shawn both as a rival and as a usual target for his sarcastic comments. Then there was Diana.

Diana had always been his friend. For most of the duration of his schooling, he'd hoped that one day, she'd be something more than a friend. Over the weeks before meeting Blitz, she had made it clear that new trainers at the age of twelve were not exactly the best couple formula, and she also felt that she had yet to choose whether she liked him or Shawn more. Justin still felt the sting of rejection even now. But she was still his friend, perhaps second best friend to Anthony, his first friend.

Overall, he didn't want to leave any of them.

However, this was opportunity. Opportunity to grow and truly become a great trainer. Opportunity to prove who he was to his idol and to world. Opportunity to take so many more steps towards his dream than other trainers. Opportunity he would not pass up.

"Excellent! I'll be waiting at the front of the Lab the fire occurred at. Meet me there in two hours. Is that enough time?"

Justin nodded. "I've got something to do anyway. I'll be there."

Red turned to leave before turning around. "Hey, Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm looking forward to training with you." With that, Red left.

Shawn, Anthony and Diana waited in front of the Pokemon Center.

"This is stupid. Justin sends all of us a message saying he needs to tell us something important, then has us standing out here for half an hour!"

Anthony just sighed. Shawn had been at this since they got outside and Justin wasn't there. Even though Shawn exaggerated the five minutes they'd been waiting, he had a point. If Justin had something important to tell them, why wasn't he here before them?

"Shawn, it's been five minutes," Diana said. "You know Justin isn't punctual. He's either too early or too late."

They turned to the door of the Pokemon Center as it slid open. Justin walked out, looking stressed out and downright depressed. Anthony spoke first. "Are you okay? You look like one of your Pokemon got seriously injured."

"No, nothing like that. Look, this morning I was questioned by the police about what happened yesterday. After the officer was done, she said somebody else wanted to see me. That's when I talked with Mentality." At his friends' confused looks he continued, "Riolu. After I was done, Red walked in. Or, I suppose it was while I was talking to Mentality. Anyway-"

"Wait a minute! You're not just gonna speed past that as if you didn't say what you just said." Shawn continued after all eyes were on him. "Red? As in Champion Red, the guy with the legendary Charizard?"

Justin nodded. "He offered me to train with him, and I accepted. I just know I can become a better trainer with his help. But there's a slight issue."

"What is it? What could possibly be more important than the ability to train with Red a week after becoming a trainer?"

"I'd have to leave you guys behind. We promised to travel together. That's why."

Anthony just laughed. "Are you kidding? You need all the help you can get if you want to stay ahead of us. We're catching up quickly, pal. When do you leave?"

Justin got over his initial surprise and smiled. "Thanks, Anthony. I needed that. I leave in two hours. Should be enough time to scan Mentality and get some supplies. Speaking of which, do you guys want to meet Mentality?" They all nodded.

Justin released Mentality. The Fighting type looked around before Justin spoke. "Mentality, these are my friends. Meet-" He was cut off by Mentality placing his hand on his stomach.

 _ **I know their names from your memories. I will tell them what fate holds for them.**_

 _Wait, what?_

 _ **If one's aura is powerful enough, I can discern their future.**_

 _Why didn't you do that for me?_

 _ **Your aura is readable, but your future is clouded. I cannot see it.**_

 _That's bad, right?_

 _ **Not necessarily.**_

Justin snapped back to reality as Mentality let him go, then spoke with Shawn. After a few seconds, Shawn was let go. "I had no idea Riolu could do that."

"Do what?" Diana asked.

 _ **Hail, Crush-Maiden. My master, Justin, thinks highly of you. Allow me to tell you your future.**_

 _ **Impossible choices lie ahead. The echo of emotions must in the end choose the echo of will power. The fight against the maelstrom leads to certain downfall unless the blight provides you assistance.**_

 _Why does every future prediction have to be cryptic?_

 _ **Apologies, Crush-Maiden.**_

Mentality let go of Diana before holding a fist in front of Anthony, who pressed against it with his own.

 _ **Hail, Masters-Ally.**_

 _Hello._

 _ **Shall I tell of your fate?**_

 _Sure. Is it going to be cryptic?_

 _ **Yes. The shifting form leads to two of a pair on opposite sides. Two friends will rescue you from dark times, when the second is truly realized. Shadow's storms are stopped by the Ball's usage.**_

Mentality let Anthony go.

"Now that that's over with, and I'm sure you guys have a lot to think about, I'm gonna scan you with the Pokedex, alright Mentality?" Mentality nodded.

 _Riolu, the emanation Pokemon. Male. It communicates with others using auras. Riolu are extremely protective over their trainers._

 _This Riolu knows the moves Quick Attack, Agility, Force Palm, and Zen Headbutt. It's ability is Steadfast, increasing speed when knocked down. It has a Quirky nature, and appears to have no food preference._

Justin smiled. It wasn't the widest moveset on his team, but he could work with it. "I'm going to recall you now, alright?" Mentality grabbed Justin's arm.

 _ **When shadows envelop, victory from intent on life is the only way out.**_ Mentality let him go, then nodded, as if he never said anything. Justin tapped fists with Mentality. _Was that my future?_

 _ **Yes. I was able to grasp that small amount from your aura.**_

Justin recalled Mentality, understanding that he would know what that meant when he got to it. He turned to his friends. "I guess this is it, for a while, anyway."

"Actually..." Diana said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Justin nodded and she pulled him over to the side. "Do you remember what I said to you and Shawn a week ago?"

Justin nodded, frowning. Why was she bringing this up?

"I made my decision. I'll reveal it when I'm ready, but not yet. Look, besides that, I want you to remember to have fun. You may have your dream, but you're still twelve. Enjoy what little time you've got left as a kid. I know I will."

Justin gave a thumbs up before responding simply with, "You got it." Justin walked towards the Lab.

"Aren't you gonna stay with the three of us a little longer?"

Justin shook his head. "I've got things to get, plus I want to make sure I'm not late. Take care of yourselves."

Justin looked down the block and saw Red standing there.

"Ah, Justin! Glad to see you're here early! Are you ready to go? I've got a Seagallop Ferry bound for our training ground on standby."

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said, having taken an hour to prepare.

He would train to become stronger. He would beat Team Hurricane. He would make the conference and go far. And someday, he would beat Red.

He'd win it all, starting now.

 **And there it is! I know it's been forever. My computer got messed up and ended up deleting the chapter right before I finished. Twice. Then I took a break, cleanly pissed off. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I felt kind of desperate just to get something out to you guys. I know it's not my best, and I'll definitely do better without a glitching computer. As for Mentality, a few people said they didn't like large movesets for young team members, and I tried to keep it limited here. If you've got any questions, comments, or advice, please feel free to review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Rocked Like a Hurricane

**Whoa, no way! Is it possible? The comeback of the century?**

"Where are we again? Just making sure I have it right."

"We're in Kanto right now," Red said, "This is where we'll begin your training, and we'll head back to Jiman in a month or if an emergency arises. After we return to Jiman, you will battle the next three gym leaders, then we'll return here. Now go back to sleep, we've got a few hours before the seagallop gets to our destination."

XxXxXxXxXx

Justin looked up at the towering figure before him. Spreading his wings longer than Justin's body, the Charizard looked down at him as hard as Justin looked up. Charizard was getting a first opinion of Justin, and he wasn't gonna mess up. Charizard snorted when he saw Blitz, walking away.

"Charizard, get back here!" Red yelled. Charizard just pointed at Blitz before pointing up. "What do you mean, you won't train him until he's evolved? You can't leave him waiting like that." Charizard walked back over, albeit begrudgingly, and ripped a massive chunk of rock out of the earth. He pointed at it and made a fist.

"Blitz, I think he wants you to break it. Flare Blitz with everything you've got!" Blitz coated himself in flame and crashed into the rock, breaking it slightly but not causing any big damage. Charizard shook his head and pulled another massive rock from the earth. "Okay, this time couple it with Dragon Dance and Outrage!"

Blitz's muscles expanded as he pumped himself up with Draconic Energy before he became shrouded in flame yet again, this time breaking the rock into four smaller pieces. He took a deep breath as he cut off Dragon Dance and Outrage. Charizard looked at Blitz approvingly before holding out a fist. Blitz watched as the fist became shrouded in fire, and Charizard effortlessly smashed the smaller rock to pieces.

"Fire punch is a good place for Blitz to start, for a few reasons. He already knows Flare Blitz, a more powerful attack, and I understand that," Red continued. "However, Flare Blitz can be very taxing and even hurt the user, so it should be used as a last resort. With Fire Punch, not only will Blitz not risk hurting himself, but he will also learn to focus his fire and control it better rather than spreading it across his entire body. Plus, considering he does know Flare Blitz, it should be easy, and accomplishing something fast is always good for morale."

Red then diverted his attention to the pair of Pikachu, whilst Justin explained to Blitz he'd be back at the end of the day. "Zeus is your Pikachu's name, right? He's already made a ton of progress, so I'll be teaching him something a bit different. Pikachu, Iron Tail." Red's pikachu, easily discernable from Justin's based on the sheer amount of battle scars it had, jumped up into the air. As it started falling, its tail began to glow and shine like steel, and Pikachu slammed the ground, creating a large cloud of dust and scattering rocks everywhere. "A bit out of the box, but I find Iron Tail to be very helpful in battles versus large opponents, or even when used midair. There are a few unorthodox methods to using this we can try once Zeus has mastered this in its entirety. Pikachu, continue to work with Zeus for the rest of the day." Pikachu shook its head, clearly joking, and Red raised an eyebrow. " _Raul,_ what have I told you?" Pikachu stuck his tongue out at Red before beckoning Zeus toward a rock they could practice on.

"Raul? I'm more confused than anything else," Justin said.

"I showed Pikachu to my mother for the first time, and she suddenly started calling him Raul out of nowhere! I'm still confused as to why it happened, but he hates it when I call him Raul and it tends to get him to stop fooling around. Anyway, next up, if he would reveal himself to your Lapras, is the water pair. Lapras will be working on Surf with Greninja."

"Poseidon," Justin nodded as Greninja jumped out of the water. About his size, Greninja looked to be probably the most serious of Red's team. "Greninja, you should get started with an example. Use Surf on that rock!" Greninja proceeded to form a sphere of water in its hands before firing it as a blast at the rock. The rock was instantly annihilated.

"Poseidon will need to use his mouth for the move, but other than that it'll be smaller since he's not as experienced regardless. Next up, the Buddhas." They walked over to Menrality and… was that a Mienshao? _Didn't see that coming._

"These two will probably be meditating together before they spar, so I'll save any actual move teaching for tomorrow. They do a lot better from meditating and coming to understand one another first. Now, Nightcrawler is a special case, and this works because you only have five Pokémon, so I can assign two teammates to one guy. He'll be working with Scizor there on how to control his Bug energies better, making scrambling the minds of psychics easier. They'll also be doing basic workouts. Gengar will be working on the poison aspect of Nightcrawler's battling, teaching him the best areas to strike for faster poison spread, and how to get more poison dripping from his spikes. Nightcrawler's got two mentors, so I won't be focusing on only one move quite yet. Now, Justin, if you'll come with me, I have another teammate for you to meet."

Justin was confused. "Can't you only have six Pokémon with you at a time?"

"Normally, yes," Red replied, "But, being the champion, the league has given me special privileges. Once you acquire more than six Pokémon, I'll grant you the same privilege, to make training easier. Now, listen to me, Justin. This is one of my only friends who only listens to me when he feels like it. He could kill both of us without even trying, so try to stay on his good side."

The two approached the Pokémon Red had been speaking of. Justin regarded it with awe. The grey and purple creature looked like a gigantic starved cat, save for the fact that it stood on two legs. Its tail ended in a sort of bulb shape. It had a huge aura of power emanating from it, and it stuck its three-fingered hand out at Justin, as if initiating a challenge.

 _ **What's with the boy, Red? Another one of your ravenous fans?**_

 __Red just laughed, but Justin stood in shock. "You," he said, "You're that voice from before, that accelerated Blitz's evolution! Now that I know you're allied with Red, I really want some answers! Why did you help me? _Who are you?"_ Even as Justin both said and thought his last sentence, the Psychic answered. _**My name is Mewtwo, child. You**_ **will** _ **respect me, or I will annihilate you. I had a vision of you and Red fighting together, so I sought you out. I decided to help you to save your future. If your Charmander hadn't evolved into Charmeleon, you would've lost the battle against Jona, and your friend Azelf would have killed you. As such, I**_ **highly** _ **recommend you be grateful for my help instead of questioning it.**_

 __"Wait. Azelf? What are you talking about?" Red asked before turning to Justin. "Justin, you've met Azelf? Why didn't you tell me you've encountered a legend?"

"Azelf asked me not to tell anyone."

 _ **Actually, Justin, he has established a bond with Uxie. I remember him now,**_ Azelf thought, _**He met Uxie around the same time you first met me, when Uxie traveled the world in search of someone with the wisdom of a true trainer. He's a good person, and since he bonded with Uxie, you'd better believe he's wise. Anyway, he's fine knowing the secret of our bond.**_

They spent the rest of the day discussing goals for the few months they'd be training together. "You should only need about three weeks to beat all of the gym leaders once we're done. I'm expecting great results from you, as one of my students. It's getting dark, though, so let's head back." Justin nodded and started walking back with Red. Once they arrived, Red called everyone over. "Okay, let's see if we've made any move progress. If you'll all do the honors."

Blitz was up first, and even as Charizard brought up a rock from the ground, Blitz smashed it to pieces. "Nice job, Blitz!" Justin yelled. They had to be far away, since the moves involved many rocks being pulled up from the ground then annihilated.

Next, Zeus took aim at the rock Charizard pulled up. He leaped into the air, and as he fell, his tail started to glow bright white and shine like steel. However, right before impacting the rock, the glow faded and Zeus hit the rock head-on. Justin ran over to Zeus as fast as he could. "Zeus!" He yelled.

 _ **He's fine, Justin. I broke his fall. Maybe jumping really high wasn't the best training decision.**_

 _Not the time, Azelf. Is he hurt?_

 _ **No, he'll be fine.**_

Justin picked up Zeus carefully. "You okay, buddy?" Zeus nodded and looked away, appearing rather ashamed of itself. "Hey, there's nothing to worry about. Why didn't you tell us you couldn't do it? We would've-" Justin couldn't finish his sentence because Zeus started squeaking as loudly as he could over it.

 _ **Zeus is trying to tell you that he**_ **has** _ **done it before, but he can't jump high and do it like Red's Pikachu.**_

"Zeus, you should've done it the way you were comfortable with. Not everyone's battling styles are the same. It's perfectly fine that you use Iron Tail differently, and I'm sure you'll be able to use it from high up once you've gotten much better at it. Red did say it was a bit out of the box, so take it at your pace, okay?" Zeus was about to start complaining again, but a quick look from Justin put an end to that, and he begrudgingly nodded.

 _At least he's okay. That's what really matters._ "Poseidon, you're up next. Use surf on the rock!" Poseidon formed a blue ball in its mouth before blasting the rock with water, breaking it into pieces.

"Zeus, Iron Tail!" Zeus just looked at Justin like he was crazy. "Do it without jumping so high this time. You said you can do it that way, right?" Zeus nodded before jumping a much smaller height. His tail began to glow and shine like steel, and he slammed the ground as hard as he could. A cloud of dust kicked up which left Justin coughing hard. He spoke through it though. "Nice job, pal!" he barely managed to yell out.

"Scizor and Gengar reported nothing but good things about Nightcrawler. Mienshao said good things about the concentration Mentality exhibits. I'd say your team passes for today. But they'll only get pushed harder. Now then, I'd say everyone deserves a rest. They'll need it for the morning." With that, Justin and his team found comfortable positions around the campfire and went to sleep.

XxXxXxXxXx

Justin was awoken with a start by a jolt of electricity. "Hey, knock it off, Zeus," he grumbled as he tried to go back to sleep.

"Justin, get up!" That wasn't Zeus. Justin immediately sat up to see Red frantically speaking to someone over his Pokenav. "I'm aware of that, and we're on our way now. Just keep calm. It's going to be fine," he finished before hanging up and turning to Justin. "Remember those emergencies I was saying would be the only thing interrupting training?"

"This is one of them," Justin replied.

"Yes. Team Hurricane has attacked again and they need backup. Get everyone back in their Pokeballs and come with me."

"If it's really an emergency, there's no way we'll be able to get there fast enough with a six hour boat ride."

"I have a plan, relax." With that the two of them walked towards the small cave Mewtwo called home. " _Mewtwo,"_ Red both spoke and thought, " _Can you please teleport us to the Glazeburn city museum?_ "

 _Glazeburn museum? First a science lab, now a museum. They must have some kind of obsession with ancient history. Plus, Glazeburn again? Seems kind of peculiar._

 _ **Why not,**_ Mewtwo replied, _**I could use the entertainment.**_ Justin blinked to find himself on a battleground. Team Hurricane were bombarding the police force with everything they had. "Justin, take Blitz and Zeus and help the police force fight. In the meantime, I'll flank them. Also, take this," Red said as he pulled a small badge out of his pocket, "This should show those police officers that you're on their side and here to help." Justin nodded. It was a logical plan. He ran past the police barricade and released Blitz and Zeus.

"Okay guys, here's the plan. Zeus, you're on hit scan. Take out any fliers you see. Blitz, you're on crowd control. Keep blasting those flamethrowers at them and make sure the police meets with as little resistance as possible. Got it?" Blitz and Zeus nodded before turning around and beginning their attack.

"Justin? I thought you'd left by now." Justin turned around to see Dante, still wearing a lab coat.

"So did I, but when this happened, I came back to help."

"I'm glad you did. I have something I want to give you, as thanks for all your help against Team Hurricane." He handed Justin a small bottle. "In here are four pills that we'd just finished before Team Hurricane attacked. Two of them have insane healing capabilities, able to heal the worst of wounds and illnesses in both trainers and Pokémon. The other two are super-stimulants of a kind, able to give anyone nearly infinite energy and increase their physical attributes for a time. This is a small gift in comparison to what you've done for us, but I hope you'll accept it. I would advise you to only use these in the worst of situations, as you've only got two of each. It's all I could squeeze past my job's security."

"This is incredible. I don't know what to say," Justin said as he looked at the bottle in awe before nodding, "I won't waste them, I promise."

Justin thanked Dante again before refocusing on the battle. Blitz and Zeus had done their jobs well. All of the grunts were in police custody. Just as he was about to thank and recall them, a new arrival showed up. His brown hair waved in the sea air practically undeterred, looking rather majestic as it streamed halfway down his back. But nothing got to Justin's head in that moment as much as his smile. It was positively psychotic as he walked slowly towards Justin. "So I see you're just as stubborn as everyone else your age. I thought I'd warned you about messing with my affairs. Now I have to destroy you." He held up a Pokeball.

"Blitz, I'm gonna lead off with Zeus here, so I'm recalling you now, okay?" Blitz nodded as he was sucked into the Pokeball. Justin could feel his heart pounding. _I have to admit, I'm scared. I don't know if I can beat this guy._

 _ **I'm sure he's only all talk, based on the arrogance of his underlings.**_

 _True, but he's no underling._ Justin and Zeus nodded at each other as Andre released his first Pokémon, a Nidorina. Her red eyes seemed to look at Justin with more malice than he thought possible, and Justin prepped himself for a tough fight.

"Thunderbolt!" He yelled. Immediately, Zeus blasted Nidorina with electricity, which made her recoil slightly, but didn't deal any significant damage.

"Poison Tail," Andre commanded. Almost immediately, Nidorina Lunged at Zeus with a tail coated in Poison.

"Iron Tail! Tie it!" Zeus jumped at Nidorina, and he slammed into Nidorina's poison tail with his own glowing Iron Tail. The pair both recoiled, and it seemed like Zeus had the upper hand.

"Quick attack into Iron Tail!"

"Double Kick!"

The two attacks were ordered at the same time, and while Zeus had the speed advantage, Nidorina timed her kicks better, so Zeus was sent flying at least 30 feet into the air.

"Nidorina, Take Down! Send his Pikachu packing!" Even as Nidorina charged forward, Justin knew he had to think of something. _There's only one thing I could try. I know you can do this Zeus._ "Iron Tail! Use your fall!" As Zeus looked at Justin like he was crazy for the second time in the past twelve hours, Justin just nodded. Zeus nodded back before his tail began to glow, and in just a few second the pair met on the floor. Zeus slammed his Iron Tail just as Nidorina completed her charge, creating a massive smoke cloud. In a few seconds, the cloud cleared to reveal an unconscious Nidorina and a hurt Zeus.

Justin was ecstatic, not just because he'd won, but because Zeus used Iron Tail from that height. "I knew you could do it buddy!" Zeus turned around and nodded at Justin before passing out. _You did wonderful, buddy. You deserve the rest,_ Justin thought as he recalled Zeus. _It's now or never, Blitz. Let's do this!_

Justin released Blitz as Andre released his next pokemon. The insect had Yellow and Black stripes all over its body, and the two stingers on its hands shone as light reflected off of them. The Beedrill jabbed the air in front of it, clearly issuing a challenge to Blitz. Blitz roared in return, baring his claws.

"I must say that you intrigue me, young boy. Not many can earn the respect of a Charmeleon. As a reward for coming this far, allow me to show you the greatest power before you die." With that, he pulled out something from his pocket. Justin could swear it was a rock, but it couldn't be any ordinary stone. He didn't know of any evolutionary stones that came in small circles anyway, so he had no idea what it was.

As he looked upon the stone, it seemed to form a link between Andre and Beedrill. "Great stone from the heavens, bestow upon me and the great insect hunter of the forest your power! Mega Evolution!"

 _Mega Evolution? What the heck is that? And what's with the weird chant?_ Justin watched in awe as the power completely changed Beedrill. He grew in size before completely losing his legs and trading them for stingers. His arms also retracted into his body somewhat, giving him an overall more sleek appearance. Beedrill appeared before Justin in its new form, and Justin was extremely frightened. _I have absolutely no idea how to fight this thing._ "Cross Poison," Andre called, and as all four of Beedrill's stingers became coated in poison, it charged towards Blitz at blinding speed and smashed right into him. As Blitz fell unconscious, he flew towards Justin, who was hit head-on by his body. The last thing Justin heard before passing out was a voice yell "Fire Blast!"


End file.
